It is not only Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud Party, or National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, nor Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have spoken openly of annexing Arab lands to fulfil the so-called “biblical mandate.” They are not the first, nor will they be the last, to cling to these Zionist-religious claims. As long as the religious foundations of the State of Israel command consensus among most Jews—particularly Israeli Jews—such rhetoric will continue. Only segments of the Jewish diaspora that historically opposed Zionism and refused to migrate to Israel stand apart.
The religious background to “Greater Israel,” or the “Promised Land,” or “Land of Canaan”—all names for the Zionist project to dominate the Middle East—has been clear since before 1967. It was echoed in the speeches of Israel’s political and military leaders for decades, even woven into early Zionist congresses. These religious narratives also underpinned the so-called “Deal of the Century” and the American-Israeli vision of a “New Middle East.”
Netanyahu’s Map of a “New Middle East”
The world still recalls Netanyahu’s address to the UN General Assembly on 27 September 2024, when he displayed a green-coloured map he called the “New Middle East.” It stretched across the Arab region from the Gulf to Egypt. Far from a map of peace or of U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords, it was in fact a map of Greater Israel—a vision already tainted by Israel’s war crimes and ongoing genocide of Palestinians before the International Criminal Court.
In a subsequent interview with i24News, Netanyahu declared openly that he considered himself on a “historic and spiritual mission” to achieve this vision of Greater Israel.
Thus, for Israel, wars of expansion are not simply military ventures but sacred religious missions. The concepts of the “Promised Land,” the “Kingdom of Israel,” the “Chosen People,” the “Temple of Solomon,” and the “Return of the Messiah” form the core of Israel’s religious-Zionist narrative.
Sacred Killing for the Promised Land
Most Jews believe that historic Palestine, referred to in the Bible as Canaan, is the land promised by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This belief is used as an ideological and religious justification for the 1948 Nakba, the wars of 1956, 1967, 1973, and the ongoing campaigns in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.
The Zionist slogan that Palestine was a “land without a people” is still repeated as a divine justification: the land is framed as God’s eternal gift to the “chosen people.”
Citing Genesis 12:7—“To your offspring I will give this land”—and Exodus 6:8—“I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”—Jewish leaders claim Palestine and neighbouring Arab lands as Israel’s sacred, eternal right.
From this perspective, Israel has named its wars after biblical figures and prophecies:
- In 1948, its largest operation was Operation Yoav, named after Joab, King David’s general.
- The rise of Netanyahu’s far-right Likud was compared to the biblical conquest of Joshua (Yehoshua bin Nun), who led the Israelites into the Promised Land after the desert wandering. This narrative was used to justify genocidal campaigns as divinely sanctioned “new Joshuan wars.”
Israeli wars on Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran have all carried biblical names: Operation Defensive Shield (2002, Gaza); Operation Rainbow (2004, Gaza); Operation Peace for Galilee (1982, Lebanon); Operation Purple Iron (2006, Lebanon); Operation Pillar of Cloud (2012, Gaza); Operation Protective Edge (2014, Gaza); Operation Guardian of the Walls (2021, Gaza), citing Isaiah 62:6: “I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night.”
Even the 2024 airstrikes on Syria carried the biblical name Arrow of Bashan, while the June 2025 Israeli assault on Iran was called Operation Rising Lion, drawn from Numbers 23:24: “The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion.”
Religion as a Weapon of War
Time and again, rabbis sanctify Israeli wars with religious rhetoric. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, speaking on 19 July 2025, praised soldiers returning from Gaza, saying he wished he could cling to the “holy dust” on their uniforms, calling them “David’s soldiers” and feeling a “direct connection to divine light” through their battles.
Such statements expose the sacred framing of genocide in Gaza and beyond, turning war crimes into acts of religious devotion.
Israel’s biblical war names, therefore, cannot be read as mere military code words—they are theological declarations, part of a colonial narrative that fuses Zionist ideology, biblical interpretation, and Western imperial support.
The Messiah and the Endgame
For Israel’s religious right, the mission is not limited to Gaza or even Palestine. The so-called Promised Land extends “from the Nile to the Euphrates.” Annexing the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Sinai, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon is framed as a sacred duty.
This vision is tied to the return of the Messiah. Only when Greater Israel is “restored” will salvation arrive. In this worldview, Palestinians and Muslims are labelled the “Canaanites” to be eradicated.
From the Gush Emunim movement born after 1967 to today’s far-right coalitions, Israel’s politics are driven by this religious claim. Hence, the two-state solution is not merely politically dead—it is theologically impossible.
Conclusion: Exposing the Religious Mask
The wars of Israel are not rational military campaigns, nor simply political conflicts. They are framed as holy wars, grounded in a manipulative reading of the Torah and Talmud. Since the UN’s unjust decision to create the state of Israel, Zionism has been fuelled by a messianic narrative that portrays every massacre and act of colonisation as part of a divine mission.
To understand the Arab-Israeli conflict, one must confront this religious narrative and expose its misuse of sacred texts to justify war, genocide, and ethnic cleansing.
The battle is not only on the ground—it is also a battle of narratives. Revealing Israel’s use of religion to mask its crimes is essential for shifting global awareness and dismantling the false moral legitimacy it claims.
