Israel Always Wants More Palestinian Land

US President Obama was considered radical, by right-wing Israeli supporters, for merely stating the obvious conditions necessary for a viable two-state solution: two countries based on the pre-1967 borders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demands that the Jewish settlers in the West Bank--along with the territory they continue to steal--become incorporated into Israel. Mazal Mualem wrote in Haaretz:

After two days packed with meetings and peaking with his confrontation with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has emerged stronger within Likud and became a uniting force for the Israeli right.

Netanyahu's adamant rejection of Obama's "1967 borders" speech restored calm to the right-wing coalition he heads; even the leftmost pole of his government, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, sent him a message of support Saturday...The rightmost poles of Netanyahu's coalition government, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai and Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon, saw to it that the political front remained calm.

"Israel cannot permit itself to return to the 1967 borders, which are indefensible, or to a process in which it is giving more territory to the Palestinians," Ya'alon said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon sounded a reassuring note Saturday. Like Barak, said he did not interpret the interchange between Obama and Netanyahu as a confrontation. "Obama's speech was positive for Israel, since he remained committed to Israel as a Jewish state and even demanded that the Palestinians explain the reconciliation agreement with Hamas," Ayalon said.

What Israel wants is what it has always wanted: more and more Palestinian land. Since the beginning of the so-called "Peace Process" the settlements have continued to increase. Even when the Gaza pullout occurred,the choice portions of the West Bank were being grabbed. And who are these settlers? Many are religious fanatics that believe that God gave them the land. Some ideas by settlers were inspired by Ze'ev (Vladimir)Jabotinsky (1880-1940). He is the spiritual father of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party. In 1913 he wrote an article “On Race." He stated, “We are entitled then to say that generally speaking almost every nation has a specific racial component, which is common to each individual within it. In this sense (and not, of course, in a political or juridical sense), nation and race overlap each other.” He then adds:

Let us draw for ourself the ideal “absolute nation.” It would have to posses a racial appearance of marked unique character, an appearance different from the racial nature of that nation’s neighbours. It would have to occupy from times immemorial a continuous and clearly defined piece of land; it would be highly desirable if in that area there would be no alien minorities, who would weaken national unity. It would have to maintain an original language, which is not derived from another nation…

Race relations were also inherently antagonistic in his world view and could only be resolved by one race dominating the other. Jabotinsky wrote an imaginary dialogue called Exchange of Compliments. The topic was about superior and inferior races. The colonialist mentality of Jabotinsky articulated in this work becomes more pronounced. In it is stated:

The Bushman, when he will meet a white person: ultimately, and despite everything, he will be impressed by the white man’s supremacy. Both believe in their own superiority, but in the white man’s heart it will not be impaired, while in the Bushman’s feeling it will be contested and destroyed and will finally disappear. Ultimately, the white man will rule the Bushman not only by force, but his domination will also be that of spiritual superiority.

These writings on race reflect his approach to politics and the way he interpreted Jewish colonization into Palestine. These writings also reflect the way the Israeli government operates in regards to its conflict with the Palestinians currently.