Greater Israel'

Gaza was never going to be the end. This week, speaking to Tucker Carlson, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Israel has a biblical right to land covering territory between Egypt and Iraq. When told that the verse includes land far beyond Gaza and the West Bank, he responded that it would be "fine if they took it all". The significance of this lies in its premise, that sovereignty is being derived from a divine promise. Once territorial claims are framed as biblical entitlement, they cease to be bound by international law or moral obligations. They are no longer constrained by the June 4, 1967 lines, by UN resolutions or by negotiated settlement. A divine mandate does not recognise compromise, nor partition. It only reecognises the fact that the goal is to be achieved at any cost. That is why Pakistan, alongside 13 other countries and major regional organisations, moved swiftly to condemn the remarks as highly dangerous and inflammatory. Their joint statement reaffirmed that Israel holds no divine sovereignty whatsoever. More importantly, it warned that expansionist narratives threaten regional stability. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously spoken of feeling "very attached" to the vision of a "Greater Israel", calling it a historic and spiritual mission. When such a worldview is echoed by a US ambassador, it begins to resemble alignment. Washington cannot simultaneously support de-escalation, a two-state framework and theological maximalism. The positions are mutually exclusive. One rests on law. The other rests on belief. The world cannot treat "Greater Israel" as a rhetorical flourish. It is an expansionist doctrine that legitimises annexation and inflames violence. Gaza was only the opening act. For diplomacy to have any chance, the international community must confront this vision openly and resist the notion that divine entitlement can redraw borders.

from Latest News, Breaking News & Top News Stories | The Express Tribune https://ift.tt/NbMsWtz

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