Expansionist mapmaking

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be taunting the world to take any meaningful action against his regime, as his expansionist government now appears to be seeding its people with the idea that Israel has a historical claim to neighbouring countries' sovereign territory. There has been uproar in Arab countries after the Israeli foreign ministry released a map detailing the borders of the Biblical kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which not only covers modern-day Israel and Palestine, but also parts of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Though the idea of Israel laying claim to these territories may seem as outlandish as Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt laying claim to Spanish, Portuguese and Italian territory, Israel's very existence is based on the same 3,000-year-old kingdom. The area that constitutes Israel today was overwhelmingly Muslim just 100 years ago until mass migration changed the demographics. Despite the small Jewish population at the time, the mostly European-born founders of Israel argued that they had a fair claim to the land because their ancestors are believed to have ruled the area from around 1047 BC to around 720 BC. The fact that the areas had changed hands several times since then and even had a large indigenous population was irrelevant. Meanwhile, since its creation, Israel has mostly refused to return land it has illegally occupied and instead allowed Israelis to build illegal settlements, often at subsidised prices. The Golan Heights area, which belongs to Syria, is the most notable example.

Since the current assault on Gaza began, Netanyahu has regularly used questionable Biblical references to justify the brutal response to the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack. Many analysts were already worried that he would capitalise on the instability in Syria to take further territory, using 'historical' precedent as justification. So, while the map may just be a map, as some Israeli sources claim, given Israel's track record, the concern and outrage in neighbouring countries is completely justified.