by Kit Klarenberg, Global Research:
Ever since Tel Aviv’s 1948 creation, much has been said and written about ‘Greater Israel’ – the notion Zionism’s ultimate end goal is the forcible annexation and ethnic cleansing of vast swaths of Arab lands for Jewish settlement, based on Biblical claims that this territory was promised to Jews by God. The media typically dismisses this concept as an antisemitic conspiracy theory or, at most, the fringe fantasy of a minuscule handful of Israelis.
In reality, as The Guardian admitted in 2009, the idea of a Greater Israel has long appealed to “religious and secular right-wing nationalists” alike in Tel Aviv. They have the shared objective of “[seeking] to fulfill divine commandments about the ‘beginning of redemption,’ as well as create ‘facts on the ground’ to enhance Israel’s security.” The outlet acknowledged this motivation was a key contemporary driving force in mainstream Israeli politics, which “effectively turned the Palestinians into aliens on their own soil.”
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The Nation has described the push to establish Greater Israel as “the central ideological goal” of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, which has dominated Israeli politics in recent decades. In July 2018, Israel passed the “Nation State of the Jewish People” law. It enshrines “the development of Jewish settlement as a national value.” Meanwhile, the state is legally obligated “to encourage and promote” the “establishment and consolidation” of settlements in illegally occupied territory.
This is based on the Jewish people’s “exclusive and inalienable right” to territory as far away from present Israel as Saudi Arabia. Old Testament terms such as “Judea and Samaria” are also employed. Markedly, this text is absent from the legislation’s official English translation. Israeli chiefs may not have wanted to make their irredentist, settler colonial ambitions quite so obvious at the time. Fast forward to now, though, and Zionists at every level are wholly unabashed about their grand expansionist plans in the Middle East.
The Syrian government’s fall has raised questions, concerns, and uncertainties locally and internationally. Can the country survive in its present form? Will Western-backed ‘former’ ultra-extremists be able to run a government? Could the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, which inflicted serious harm to Israel and its Western allies throughout 2023 and 2024, be under threat? The list goes on. But one thing is sure – Israel is seeking to profit handsomely from the chaos, and if successful, the results will be revolutionary.
‘Defensive Position’
On December 8, a triumphant, smart-casual-bedecked Benjamin Netanyahu made a public address from an Israeli Defense Force observation point in the illegally occupied Golan Heights. Taking personal credit for Bashar Assad’s ouster, he hailed “a historic day” for the region, which offered “great opportunity.” The Israeli leader bragged that Israel’s “forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran” had “set off a chain reaction” of upheaval, showing no sign of abating. Nonetheless, he warned of “significant dangers.”
Image: The fall of the Assad regime in Syria (Source)
One of those hazards, Netanyahu declared, was “the collapse of the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1974.” This largely forgotten accord was signed by Damascus and Tel Aviv following the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Both sides agreed not to mount hostile military operations of any kind against one another from their shared Golan Heights border. Perhaps surprisingly, it was scrupulously adhered to for 50 years. Now, though, Assad’s fall has sparked a Syrian military withdrawal from the area, and, in turn, the IDF is moving in.
Netanyahu announced that orders had been given to the IDF to push deep into the demilitarized zone created by the Agreement, which is legally and historically Syrian territory. He claimed this was merely a “temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found.” Yet, ever since, it has become increasingly unambiguous that for Israel, Assad’s departure not only greenlights the tearing up of longstanding diplomatic agreements but the entire map of the Middle East as we know it.
For now, the IDF has captured strategically invaluable Mount Hermon, Syria’s tallest mountain, from which Damascus can be seen just 40 miles away. Concurrently, hundreds of Israeli airstrikes have obliterated what remained of Syria’s military infrastructure, leaving the country utterly defenseless from any incursions by air, land, and sea. The stage is set for a major escalation and an attempt by Israel to absorb further territory. Who or what could stop them?
On December 10, while testifying at his long-running corruption trial, Netanyahu used the occasion to hint strongly at Assad’s defeat, heralding a significant reshaping of the region. “Something tectonic has happened here, an earthquake that hasn’t happened in the 100 years since the Sykes-Picot Agreement,” the Israeli leader said, referencing the 1916 treaty under which Britain and France carved up the Ottoman Empire creating a series of new nations in the Middle East.
In an ironic twist, the destruction of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the Middle East into artificial boundaries under Western colonial rule, was a regular feature in ISIS propaganda. The group used the pact as a symbol of Western oppression against Islam, presenting its demise as a religious duty. With figures associated with ISIS taking charge in Damascus, that vision could now be achieved, a prospect that would undoubtedly serve Israel’s interests and align with Netanyahu’s long-standing ambitions.
‘Living Room’
Israeli media has undergone a significant tonal shift. Historically, news outlets and journalists in Israel have framed the state’s actions—ranging from operations against neighboring countries to settlement expansion and land confiscation—in terms of “security” and “defense,” even when those actions faced criticism. In the days leading up to Tel Aviv’s invasion of Lebanon on October 1, 2024, The Jerusalem Post published a strikingly candid explainer guide for its readers, enquiring, “Is Lebanon part of Israel’s promised territory?”
The Post leaned on a Brooklyn-based Rabbi to “graciously” explain in detail how based on multiple passages in Jewish scripture, “Lebanon is within the borders of Israel,” and Jews are therefore “obligated and commanded to conquer it.” The article was subsequently deleted after mass backlash and condemnation. But lessons from the debacle evidently weren’t learned in some quarters.
