“Greater Israel”: The Old Dream Revived

Israel—without exaggeration or bias—is an occupying, oppressive entity. From the moment it was imposed through the Balfour Declaration, it has committed massacres, violated international law, and trampled every moral and humanitarian value. It is a project obsessed with erasing the Palestinian people so that it may enjoy their land in full, and more beyond that.

This is Israel. A regime that has stabbed the conscience of the world, yet still clings to its mythical dream of establishing “Greater Israel.” We witness Israel holding fast to a fabricated history, while we—the ones with true historical rights—have often acted in ways that weaken our claim. Thus, we see how even lies and illusions can survive when people fiercely guard them.

Netanyahu and the “Greater Israel” Distraction

This observation comes in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent statement openly invoking the dream of “Greater Israel.” He did so at the very moment when the people of Gaza are being starved, their children reduced to skeletal figures by famine and malnutrition.

The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is so severe that it has pushed several states to threaten recognition of Palestine—and others to grant that recognition outright. This shift would not have been possible without Israel’s weaponisation of hunger, which has left no room for silence or political maneuvering.

To divert world attention from images of starving children and AI-generated portrayals of himself “swimming in Palestinian blood,” Netanyahu resorted to reviving the rhetoric of “Greater Israel.”

“Promised Land” Rebranded

There is nothing new in this discourse. It simply redirects eyes away from Israel’s refusal to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Historically, “Greater Israel” and the “Promised Land” are two sides of the same coin: the same map, the same geography, the same illusion. Politically, however, the phrase “Greater Israel” carries more weight than “Promised Land,” which has theological undertones.

This is not the first time the term has surfaced. It was already being used after the 1967 war, as Israel expanded its occupation and sought to legitimise its annexations.

A Declaration of Confidence

Reviving the “Greater Israel” slogan today serves two purposes: to distract global opinion and to signal Israel’s sense of progress in its expansionist project. It reflects Tel Aviv’s belief that it has suppressed its challengers and neutralised those who once threatened its security, allowing it to embark on what it sees as the “second phase” of its project: Greater Israel.

According to extremist Zionist ideology, this so-called map stretches far beyond historic Palestine, encompassing parts of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. The reaction was immediate—both Jordan and Egypt officially condemned Netanyahu’s remarks.

A False Sense of Victory

Despite mounting international criticism, Israel continues to speak and act as though it is politically comfortable and militarily victorious. This posture raises critical questions.

At the same moment Lebanon struggles to consolidate state institutions and resolve the issue of armed resistance, the “Greater Israel” project is being invoked once more—an attempt to destabilise the region, weaken mediating forces, and provoke new confrontations.

This raises the fundamental question: Did the Arab states that chose negotiation and uneasy acceptance of Israel miscalculate? Egypt under Anwar al-Sadat signed a peace treaty and paid a heavy price. Today, decades later, the so-called reward for such concessions seems to be Israel’s return to expansionist schemes under the banner of “Greater Israel.”

The situation is deeply troubling. It feels like history is being dragged back to the errors of the earliest phases of the Arab–Israeli conflict.