In a recent article published in Foreign Affairs, former Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and Asher Friedman, Director of Israel at the Abraham Accords Peace Institute, outlined what Israel wants from its post–7 October policies. The article, though riddled with historical distortions and cold justifications for genocide, is valuable as it exposes the strategic mindset of the Zionist state rather than offering mere propaganda. Both authors represent not simply commentators but figures tied directly to Israel’s security and diplomatic establishment.
Ben-Shabbat is a veteran of Israel’s security “deep state”, having spent three decades in the Shin Bet before becoming National Security Adviser (2017–2021). He also led normalisation tracks with Arab regimes. Friedman, for his part, manages networks under the so-called Abraham Accords, providing Israel with infrastructure to transform diplomatic deals into tools of economic and political leverage.
Together, their article frames Israel’s actions since 7 October 2023 not as a temporary burst of extremism driven by Netanyahu and his far-right partners like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, but as a permanent transformation in Israel’s strategic doctrine.
The Strategic Logic Behind Genocide
The article reveals the logic behind Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and its expanding aggressions across the region — from Gaza and Lebanon to Syria, Iran, and Yemen, and even operations in Tunisia and Qatar. It exposes Israel’s plans to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza, entrench full control over the West Bank, and especially the Jordan Valley.
The authors promote what they call Israel’s “new strategies”: no longer content with merely weakening adversaries, Israel is now prepared to use pre-emptive military force to shape a new regional order and strike leaders deemed hostile, anywhere in the world.
While they insist Israel is not seeking regional hegemony, they openly argue for reshaping the region’s security architecture unilaterally, in ways that protect Israeli interests while dismissing “any peace vision that ignores the deep hatred of Israel among Palestinians and Arabs”.
Even their token calls for “humanitarian aid” in Gaza are emptied of meaning by insisting Hamas be stripped of any role — a pretext to continue siege and starvation policies.
Normalising Mass Displacement
The authors go further, legitimising Israel’s plan to depopulate Gaza under the claim that forced migration is one of the “few realistic solutions” to the conflict. They argue that since half of Gaza’s residents were raised under Hamas governance, their very existence justifies either displacement or elimination.
This chilling logic justifies the systematic targeting of civilians and seeks to portray genocide as a rational, even necessary, option.
They dismiss the Palestinian Authority as corrupt and illegitimate, reject international trusteeship or technocratic governance in Gaza, and declare the only “solution” is permanent Israeli control. The same is applied to the West Bank, where they openly advocate extending Israeli law to the Jordan Valley in defiance of international law.
Israel’s Pursuit of “Strategic Independence”
To sustain this “new Israel”, the authors argue Tel Aviv must move toward greater strategic independence — able to act without reliance on Washington if required. This includes expanding domestic military production, diversifying alliances, and being prepared to wage unilateral wars across the region.
They note that even under Trump’s renewed support, Israel must invest heavily in research, development, and weapons manufacturing to reduce dependency on U.S. aid.
The vision presented is one of an Israel that is bolder, more aggressive, and openly contemptuous of international law — determined to redraw borders, occupy land indefinitely, and normalise assassination and forced migration as state policy.
Gaza as the Testing Ground
The “test case” for this new doctrine is Gaza. For Israel’s leaders, leaving Hamas in power in any form is unacceptable. Their declared goal is complete disarmament of Gaza, elimination of resistance leadership, and indefinite Israeli military presence across key areas, particularly in the north and along the border.
The article openly entertains “voluntary migration” of Gazans to third countries, an idea long dismissed internationally as dangerous and unlawful. Yet it is repackaged as pragmatic “conflict resolution”. The objective is clear: erase Palestinian presence, reengineer education and culture, and replace resistance with a manufactured “moderate” society under Zionist control.
Extending the Doctrine to the West Bank
The same logic is applied to the West Bank. Oslo’s failure, they argue, showed Israel must act unilaterally, intensify military operations, prevent Palestinian infrastructure that could support resistance, and hold permanent military control.
They propose annexing the Jordan Valley, framing it not as illegal occupation but as a “sovereign claim”. This reflects the long-standing Zionist ambition to nullify the two-state solution and entrench a Greater Israel by force.
A “New Israel” Rooted in Power
The final message is unambiguous: Israel defines itself through military power and perpetual war, not diplomacy or coexistence. Even partnerships under the Abraham Accords are justified solely on the basis of Israel’s strength, not peace.
The so-called “new Israel” sees itself entitled to redraw maps, dictate demographics, and operate militarily without constraints. It embraces forced displacement, annexation, assassination, and pre-emptive wars as legitimate statecraft.
SunnaFiles.com Editorial Note
This article reflects the arguments made by Ben-Shabbat and Friedman in Foreign Affairs. We translate and present it not to endorse their narrative, but to expose the Zionist mindset that justifies genocide and regional destabilisation. It demonstrates that what the world is witnessing today is not the “madness of Netanyahu” alone, but the emergence of a new Israel — aggressive, expansionist, and unapologetically genocidal.
