{"id":302753,"date":"2025-01-31T07:39:29","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T07:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=302753"},"modified":"2025-02-02T08:25:21","modified_gmt":"2025-02-02T08:25:21","slug":"conspiracy-theory-is-now-fact-greater-israel-has-arrived","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=302753","title":{"rendered":"‘Conspiracy Theory’ Is Now Fact: Greater Israel Has Arrived"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kit Klarenberg \u2013 The Unz Review Jan 29, 2025<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Ever since Tel Aviv\u2019s 1948 creation, much has been said and written about \u2018Greater Israel\u2019 \u2013 the notion Zionism\u2019s 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<\/a> typically dismisses this concept as an antisemitic conspiracy theory or, at most, the fringe fantasy<\/a> of a minuscule handful of Israelis.<\/p>\n

In reality, as The Guardian admitted<\/a> in 2009, the idea of a Greater Israel has long appealed to \u201creligious and secular right-wing nationalists\u201d alike in Tel Aviv. They have the shared objective of \u201c[seeking] to fulfill divine commandments about the \u2018beginning of redemption,\u2019 as well as create \u2018facts on the ground\u2019 to enhance Israel\u2019s security.\u201d The outlet acknowledged this motivation was a key contemporary driving force in mainstream Israeli politics, which \u201ceffectively turned the Palestinians into aliens on their own soil.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nation has described<\/a> the push to establish Greater Israel as \u201cthe central ideological goal\u201d of Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s Likud Party, which has dominated Israeli politics in recent decades. In July 2018<\/a>, Israel passed the \u201cNation State of the Jewish People\u201d law. It enshrines \u201cthe development of Jewish settlement as a national value.\u201d Meanwhile, the state is legally obligated \u201cto encourage and promote\u201d the \u201cestablishment and consolidation\u201d of settlements in illegally occupied territory.<\/p>\n

This is based on the Jewish people\u2019s \u201cexclusive and inalienable right\u201d to territory as far away from present Israel as Saudi Arabia. Old Testament terms such as \u201cJudea and Samaria\u201d are also employed. Markedly, this text is absent<\/a> from the legislation\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The Syrian government\u2019s fall has raised questions, concerns<\/a>, and uncertainties locally and internationally. Can the country survive in its present form? Will Western-backed<\/a> \u2018former\u2019 ultra-extremists be able to run a government? Could the Iran-led Axis of Resistance, which inflicted<\/a> serious harm to Israel and its Western allies throughout 2023 and 2024, be under threat? The list goes on. But one thing is sure \u2013 Israel is seeking to profit handsomely from the chaos, and if successful, the results will be revolutionary.<\/p>\n

\u2018Defensive Position\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On December 8<\/a>, a triumphant, smart-casual-bedecked Benjamin Netanyahu made a public address from an Israeli Defense Force observation point in the illegally occupied<\/a> Golan Heights. Taking personal credit for Bashar Assad\u2019s ouster, he hailed \u201ca historic day\u201d for the region, which offered \u201cgreat opportunity.\u201d The Israeli leader bragged that Israel\u2019s \u201cforceful action against Hezbollah and Iran\u201d had \u201cset off a chain reaction\u201d of upheaval, showing no sign of abating. Nonetheless, he warned of \u201csignificant dangers.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those hazards, Netanyahu declared, was \u201cthe collapse of the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1974.\u201d This largely forgotten accord was signed<\/a> 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\u2019s fall has sparked a Syrian military withdrawal from the area, and, in turn, the IDF is moving in.<\/p>\n

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 \u201ctemporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found.\u201d Yet, ever since, it has become increasingly unambiguous that for Israel, Assad\u2019s departure not only greenlights the tearing up of longstanding diplomatic agreements but the entire map of the Middle East as we know it.<\/p>\n

For now, the IDF has captured<\/a> strategically invaluable Mount Hermon, Syria\u2019s tallest mountain, from which Damascus can be seen just 40 miles away. Concurrently, hundreds of Israeli airstrikes have obliterated<\/a> what remained of Syria\u2019s 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?<\/p>\n

On December 10, while testifying<\/a> at his long-running corruption trial, Netanyahu used the occasion to hint strongly at Assad\u2019s defeat, heralding a significant reshaping of the region. \u201cSomething tectonic has happened here, an earthquake that hasn\u2019t happened in the 100 years since the Sykes-Picot Agreement,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> 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<\/a> in Damascus, that vision could now be achieved, a prospect that would undoubtedly serve Israel\u2019s interests and align with Netanyahu\u2019s long-standing ambitions.<\/p>\n

\u2018Living Room\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Israeli media has undergone a significant tonal shift. Historically, news outlets and journalists in Israel have framed the state\u2019s actions\u2014ranging from operations against neighboring countries to settlement expansion and land confiscation\u2014in terms of \u201csecurity\u201d and \u201cdefense,\u201d even when those actions faced criticism. In the days leading up to Tel Aviv\u2019s invasion of Lebanon on October 1, 2024, The Jerusalem Post published a strikingly candid explainer guide<\/a> for its readers, enquiring, \u201cIs Lebanon part of Israel\u2019s promised territory?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Post leaned on a Brooklyn-based Rabbi to \u201cgraciously\u201d explain in detail how based on multiple passages in Jewish scripture, \u201cLebanon is within the borders of Israel,\u201d and Jews are therefore \u201cobligated and commanded to conquer it.\u201d The article was subsequently deleted<\/a> after mass backlash and condemnation. But lessons from the debacle evidently weren\u2019t learned in some quarters.<\/p>\n

On December 4 \u2013 four days before the Syrian government\u2019s fall \u2013 The Times of Israel published an op-ed<\/a> on how \u201cIsrael\u2019s exploding population\u201d urgently required \u201cLebensraum,\u201d a notorious German concept meaning \u201cliving room,\u201d typically associated<\/a> with the Nazis. The piece noted that Israel\u2019s population was projected to grow to 15.2 million by 2048. Tel Aviv\u2019s territory rapidly needed to be expanded \u2013 perhaps not to the size of Russia, but certainly considerably.<\/p>\n

This extremist rhetoric was likewise purged from the web due to widespread public outcry and mocking. Yet, since the collapse of Assad\u2019s government, the phrase \u201cGreater Israel\u201d has reemerged <\/a>in Israeli media, with the idea of annexing territory from neighboring countries openly debated on Israeli primetime television. Geopolitical analyst and founder of The Cradle<\/a> Sharmine Narwani tells MintPress News that, in a way, the blatant nature of these discussions is a welcome development, as it lays bare Israel\u2019s extreme ambitions. However, she warns, attempts to expand Israel\u2019s borders could backfire in catastrophic ways.<\/p>\n

The good news is, Israel has completely dropped all its masks. The bad news is it will go for land grabs everywhere. But this will be done opportunistically and without much forethought or strategic planning. In the end, which country besides the US will be able to support Israel publicly? Tel Aviv will corner itself because the dominant Western discourse and EU law are still premised on human rights and \u2018rules.\u2019 Allowing Israel these land grabs will also sink the Western-led global order.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Primary Target\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Academic David Miller concurs the mask is off once and for all. Gravely, he tells MintPress News, \u201cThe fact that the CIA-backed regime in Damascus is openly saying it is no threat to Israel is another indication regime change in Syria is a planned attempt to destroy the Axis of Resistance, and finally genocide all Palestinians.\u201d Furthermore, he believes the writings of Zionism\u2019s founder, Theodore Herzl, make clear seizing Lebanese and Syrian territory was Israel\u2019s plan all along.<\/p>\n

Miller adds that this objective was echoed in the statements of countless prominent Zionists over decades and \u201ceven codified and published as the Yinon Plan.\u201d Little known today, this extraordinary document<\/a> was published in February 1982 in the Hebrew journal Kivunim under the title \u201cA Strategy for Israel in the 1980s.\u201d Its title is derived from author Oded Yinon, former Israeli Foreign Ministry official and advisor to Israeli leader Ariel Sharon.<\/p>\n

Some sources<\/a> claim the Yinon Plan provided a blueprint for major future events in the Middle East, such as the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Syrian conflict, and emergence of ISIS. While it might be an exaggeration to claim the plan explicitly predicted these events, its proposals closely mirror developments that later unfolded in the region.<\/p>\n

For example, the plan noted the potential for \u201cdomestic trouble\u201d to erupt in Syria between \u201cthe Sunni majority and the Shiite Alawi ruling minority\u201d \u2013 the latter constituting a \u201cmere 12% of the population\u201d \u2013 to the extent of \u201ccivil war.\u201d While Damascus\u2019 \u201cstrong military regime\u201d was considered formidable, Yinon declared \u201cthe dissolution of Syria into ethnically or religiously unique areas\u201d and the destruction of its military power as \u201cIsrael\u2019s primary target\u201d on its Eastern front.<\/p>\n

The plan envisaged similar outcomes for other countries in Israel\u2019s vicinity. Lebanon was to be broken up into \u201cfive provinces\u201d along religious and ethnic lines, partition \u201c[serving] as a precedent for the entire Arab world.\u201d Yinon wrote, \u201cThis state of affairs will be the guarantee for peace and security in the area in the long run, and that aim is already within our reach today.\u201d Four months later, Israel invaded Beirut<\/a>, carrying out ethnic cleansing, massacres, and land theft along the way.<\/p>\n

Once Israel\u2019s immediate neighbors were neutralized, Iraq was placed squarely in the crosshairs. Baghdad, \u201crich in oil\u201d while \u201cinternally torn\u201d between its Sunni and Shiite population, was \u201cguaranteed as a candidate for Israel\u2019s targets.\u201d Its destruction was \u201ceven more important for us than that of Syria\u201d due to its \u201cpower\u201d and strength relative to other regional adversaries. Yinon hoped the then-ongoing Iran-Iraq war would \u201ctear Iraq apart and cause its downfall,\u201d preventing Baghdad from \u2018[organizing] a struggle on a wide front against us\u201d:<\/p>\n

Every kind of inter-Arab confrontation will assist us in the short run and will shorten the way to the more important aim of breaking up Iraq into denominations as in Syria and in Lebanon\u2026It is possible that the present Iranian-Iraqi confrontation will deepen this polarization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Permissive Approach\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Yinon also considered it a \u201cpolitical priority\u201d to regain control of the Sinai peninsula, over which Israel had fought its Arab neighbors since inception, before relinquishing<\/a> all claims to the region to Egypt under the March 1979 Camp David Accords. He slammed these peace agreements and looked forward to Cairo \u201c[providing] Israel with the excuse <\/em>[emphasis added] to take the Sinai back into our hands\u201d due to its vast \u201cstrategic, economic and energy\u201d value:<\/p>\n

The economic situation in Egypt, the nature of the regime and its pan-Arab policy, will bring about a situation after April 1982 in which Israel will be forced to act directly or indirectly in order to regain control over Sinai\u2026for the long run. Egypt does not constitute a military strategic problem due to its internal conflicts and it could be driven back to the post 1967 war situation in no more than one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are now well past April 1982. In the intervening time, successive Israeli governments have demanded<\/a> Egypt allow the IDF to relocate Gaza\u2019s population to the Sinai. Netanyahu is particularly taken<\/a> with the prospect. In the wake of October 7, 2023, the official Israeli government<\/a> and Zionist think tank<\/a> policy papers have openly advocated driving Palestinians into the neighboring desert. It has been reported<\/a> that Israeli officials requested the U.S. to pressure Cairo into allowing this mass displacement.<\/p>\n

Since his inauguration, Donald Trump has expressed a keen interest<\/a> in \u201c[cleaning] out the whole\u201d of Gaza. This would necessitate shunting Palestinians into Jordan and Egypt. Despite opposition even from his allies, widespread condemnation<\/a> of the plan as grotesque ethnic cleansing, and both target countries rejecting the idea, the new President shows no sign of backing down.<\/p>\n

For Israel, this strategy\u2019s appeal is self-evident. On top of emptying Gaza of Palestinians for settlement, forcing countless people into Sinai would inevitably create mass chaos and tensions there, which could, in Yinon\u2019s phrase, provide \u201cthe excuse\u201d for Tel Aviv to militarily occupy the region in the manner of the West Bank. Just as a \u201ctemporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found,\u201d of course, as Netanyahu said of the IDF\u2019s brazen creation of a prospective beachhead on Mount Hermon.<\/p>\n

In December 2024<\/a>, Haaretz observed Netanyahu was \u201cangling for a legacy as the leader who expanded Israel\u2019s borders\u201d and \u201cwants to be remembered as the one who created Greater Israel.\u201d Simultaneously, neoconservative Brookings Institute Vice President Suzanne Maloney wrote<\/a> for Foreign Affairs that the incoming Trump administration \u201cwill surely take a permissive approach to Israeli territorial ambitions.\u201d After all, recent developments showed that \u201ca maximalist military approach yields spectacular strategic dividends along with domestic political benefits\u201d for Israel.<\/p>\n

We must hope, as Sharmine Narwani prophesied, that Netanyahu\u2019s megalomaniacal reveries of Greater Israel are just that. Despite understandable mass anti-imperialist mourning over the demise of Assad\u2019s government, Tel Aviv faces a panoply of intractable internal problems. Contrary to claims of Tel Aviv\u2019s population \u201cexploding,\u201d tens of thousands of residents are routinely fleeing<\/a> due to ongoing attacks on Israel. At the same time, its economy has perhaps permanently<\/a> been relegated to the doldrums, the country dependent<\/a> on U.S. largesse to endure.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The notion of a Greater Israel is becoming an almost tangible reality, with Trump adding impetus to the expansion of the Zionist state with calls for Gaza to be cleaned out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":295953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Israel_Anti-Semitism_Zionism_and_US-UK_allies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=302753"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":302807,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302753\/revisions\/302807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/295953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=302753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=302753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=302753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}