The vision of “Greater Israel” has haunted Zionist politics since the beginning. For its advocates, it is a biblical promise. For nationalists, it is destiny. In reality, it is a dangerous idea. It legitimizes mass killing, destabilizes the Middle East, and undermines the world’s fragile order built after 1945. It also centers on one figure more than any other: Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu as seen by world leaders
Benjamin Netanyahu has been in contact with leaders across the globe for decades. Many of them, in private, have described him in brutal terms. They see him not as a statesman but as a sociopath. They note his compulsive lying, his manipulative charm, and his indifference to human suffering.
One revealing moment came when Karel Schwarzenberg, the Czech statesman and later foreign minister, traveled with Netanyahu on a plane long before Netanyahu reached the heights of power. Schwarzenberg later described him with chilling precision: “highly intelligent, highly dangerous.” That assessment captured what many leaders would later discover for themselves. Netanyahu is not a normal politician. He is a highly functioning sociopath who uses intelligence not for peace but for domination.
Leaders from Europe, the United States, and the Arab world have faced the same pattern. In public, Netanyahu plays the role of defender of democracy. In private, he bends truth until it breaks. He tells every audience what it wants to hear. And he manipulates alliances to his advantage. He thrives on deception, because deception is his tool of survival.
Expansionism as a governing principle
Netanyahu’s personal qualities matter because they shape policy. He has consistently pushed Israel toward expansion. The dream of Greater Israel is not a fringe obsession. It is being realized through settlements in the West Bank, the siege of Gaza, and the slow-motion annexation of Palestinian land.
He justifies this through fear, he tells Israelis that their survival requires overwhelming violence. He normalizes the killing of civilians as unavoidable collateral. Under his leadership, Israel has killed tens of thousands in Gaza, with barely a flicker of doubt. This is not defensive war. It is expansion disguised as security.
Religion adds another layer. Biblical myths are invoked as property deeds. Land becomes sacred, not negotiable. Settlements are built as “facts on the ground,” ensuring no peace deal can undo them. The Greater Israel project is advanced not through formal declarations but through relentless incremental steps.
Historical echoes of conquest
This pursuit mirrors older patterns of conquest. For centuries, nations expanded by war, believing it natural to seize land. Modern international law was supposed to end this. Yet Israel’s policies revive the old logic.
The Russo-Ukrainian war provides a direct parallel. Both Russia and Israel justify land grabs through ancient claims. And both dismiss international law. Both kill civilians in pursuit of territorial dreams. Allowing such behavior to stand sets a global precedent. If conquest becomes legitimate again, every border in the world is at risk.
Middle East tensions
The pursuit of Greater Israel is not an internal Israeli affair. It destabilizes the region. Arab states that sought normalization recoil when they see massacres of Palestinians. Iran gains strength by casting itself as defender of the oppressed. Hezbollah rallies support through promises of resistance. Syria and Lebanon are drawn into the vortex.
This instability affects the globe. Oil markets depend on calm in the Gulf. Shipping routes cross dangerous waters. Western powers, by tying themselves to Israel’s actions, lose credibility in the Global South. Every bomb dropped on Gaza is also a blow to international law.
My criticism of Greater Israel
Morally, the project is indefensible. No nation has the right to justify killing hundreds of thousands for territorial expansion. Politically, it corrupts Israel’s democracy, creating an apartheid system where rights depend on ethnicity. Strategically, it guarantees insecurity. Every child killed today becomes tomorrow’s enemy.
Regionally, it fuels radicalism. It hands extremist groups propaganda on a silver platter. Globally, it erodes the principle that conquest is forbidden. If Israel can annex by citing divine promise, then any state can claim historic destiny and redraw borders. The result is global chaos.
Netanyahu’s sociopathy and its consequences
The danger of Greater Israel is amplified by Netanyahu’s personality. Leaders who dealt with him describe him as cold, calculating, and manipulative. Karel Schwarzenberg’s early remark—“highly intelligent, highly dangerous”—was prophetic. Netanyahu uses intelligence to deceive allies and enemies alike. He lies without hesitation, because for him lies are tools, not moral failures.
Such a man leading a state with immense military power is a global risk. He is willing to kill civilians without remorse, he is willing to destabilize entire regions to stay in power. He is willing to undermine democracy at home while presenting himself as its champion abroad. His sociopathy does not only endanger Palestinians. It endangers peace itself.
Conclusion
Greater Israel is more than a nationalist slogan. It is a geopolitical danger. Netanyahu embodies it with his lies, manipulations, and disregard for human life. He is not an ordinary leader but what many peers recognized early: a sociopath, “highly intelligent, highly dangerous.”
History shows that expansionist projects collapse. But before they fall, they bring devastation. The pursuit of Greater Israel will end the same way. The only question is how much blood will be spilled before it fails.
The world must reject this idea. To accept it is to accept conquest as normal again. That path leads not to peace but to endless war.
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