{"id":342649,"date":"2025-08-14T01:47:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T01:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/342649\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T01:47:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T01:47:15","slug":"arab-nations-fume-after-netanyahu-says-he-feels-connection-to-vision-of-greater-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/342649\/","title":{"rendered":"Arab nations fume after Netanyahu says he feels connection to vision of ‘Greater Israel’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several Arab countries expressed dismay on Wednesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a day earlier that he felt a connection to the vision of \u201cGreater Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with i24News aired on Tuesday evening, Netanyahu was asked<\/a> by network anchor Sharon Gal if he \u201cfeels a connection\u201d to a \u201cvision\u201d of Greater Israel, to which he responded: \u201cVery much.\u201d<\/p>\n

The term Greater Israel refers to Israel in expanded borders in accordance with biblical or historical descriptions, and has many versions, some of which include parts of today\u2019s Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It was popularized after the Six Day War of June 1967 to also refer to Israel and the areas it had just conquered \u2014 East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights.<\/p>\n

It is still adopted by some far-right figures in Israel who express a desire to annex or eventually control many of those territories.<\/p>\n

Gal, who was briefly a right-wing member of Knesset, asked the question after handing Netanyahu what he said was an amulet of \u201ca map of the Promised Land,\u201d which is not seen on screen.<\/p>\n

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The news anchor has recently begun selling pendants<\/a> that appear to feature a map of a relatively maximalist \u201cGreater Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u05d0\u05ea\u05d4 \u05de\u05ea\u05d7\u05d1\u05e8 \u05dc\u05d7\u05d6\u05d5\u05df \u05d0\u05e8\u05e5 \u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc \u05d4\u05e9\u05dc\u05de\u05d4?
\u05e0\u05ea\u05e0\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5: \u05de\u05d0\u05d5\u05d3 pic.twitter.com\/n0STPVHtrG<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u05e2\u05de\u05d9\u05d0\u05dc \u05d9\u05e8\u05d7\u05d9 (@amiel_y) August 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and the Arab League all issued statements censuring Netanyahu\u2019s comments and warning that they threaten regional and global stability.\n<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

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The border fence at the tripoint border between Israel, Syria, and Jordan, northern Israel, on February 15, 2024. (Michael Giladi\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

Jordan\u2019s foreign ministry said in a statement that it condemns Netanyahu\u2019s remarks, referring to them as a \u201cdangerous and provocative escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement quoted Sufyan Qudah, a ministry spokesman, issuing an \u201cabsolute rejection of these inflammatory statements.\u201d He added that such \u201cclaims and illusions, adopted and promoted by extremists in the Israeli government, encourage the continuation of cycles of violence and conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s Foreign Ministry also condemned the remark, saying Cairo had asked Israel for clarification given the \u201cimplications of provoking instability and reflecting a rejection of the pursuit of peace in the region, as well as an insistence on escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis contradicts the aspirations of regional and international parties that are peace-loving and seek to achieve security and stability for all the peoples of the region,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

In its own statement, Qatar\u2019s foreign ministry expressed<\/a> \u201cits condemnation and denunciation\u201d of Netanyahu\u2019s comments, \u201cconsidering them an extension of the occupation\u2019s approach based on arrogance, fueling crises and conflicts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doha added that the \u201cfalse Israeli allegations and absurd inflammatory statements will not undermine the legitimate rights of Arab nations and peoples,\u201d and reiterated Qatar\u2019s \u201cfull support for all efforts aimed at achieving a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia\u2019s foreign ministry issued a strong condemnation of the comments, as well as a \u201ccomplete rejection of the settlement and expansionist ideas and projects adopted by the Israeli occupation authorities.\u201d It also issued a warning \u201cto the international community against the Israeli occupation\u2019s continued blatant violations, which\u2026 threaten security and peace at both the regional and global levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Arab League\u2019s statement on Netanyahu\u2019s comments called them a \u201cblatant violation of the sovereignty of Arab states and an attempt to undermine security and stability in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The remarks, it added, \u201creflect expansionist and aggressive intentions that cannot be accepted or tolerated\u201d and also \u201cexpose a mentality steeped in colonial delusions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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From left to right, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, holds a press conference following the ministerial committee of the Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Joint Summit on Gaza, in Amman, Jordan, June 1, 2025. (AP\/Raad Adayleh)<\/p>\n

The Palestinian Authority joined in the condemnations, describing them as \u201ca provocation and a dangerous escalation that threatens the security and stability of the region, stemming from the occupation state\u2019s expansionist colonial policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramallah stressed that it is \u201ccommitted to what has been approved by international legitimacy and international law on the establishment of the independent State of Palestine on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea of Israel annexing portions of neighboring Arab countries as part of the \u201cGreater Israel\u201d vision is not widely accepted among mainstream Israelis, but the inclusion of some extremist ministers in Netanyahu\u2019s coalition has provided the concept with more prominence.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks in Paris on March 19, 2023. (Ynet screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)<\/p>\n

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich drew ire in March 2023 when he gave a speech<\/a> in Paris from a podium that featured a map of \u201cGreater Israel\u201d \u2014 leading Jordan to summon<\/a> its Israeli envoy in protest.<\/p>\n

In response to the anger, the Foreign Ministry at the time reiterated that Israel is \u201ccommitted to the 1994 peace agreement with Jordan. There has been no change in the position of the State of Israel, which recognizes the territorial integrity of the Hashemite Kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n


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