The Land of Israel – it is ours, it is also ours.

In the article entitled: "Netanyahu does not threaten the Zionist vision. It is the Zionist vision that created Netanyahu.", written by Kobi Niv and published in Haaretz (21.04.25), the author opens with words of praise for a post posted by Rina Anati, "a lawyer, web host and protest activist, who is particularly prominent in the posts she posts on social media against Netanyahu and his government. But, there is grief."

Will it really be that bad here?

"Last week," writes Kobi Niv, "she posted a thought-provoking and chilling post, in which Anati quotes a friend of hers for the protests, wondering if she really thinks it will be that bad here? ...Does she really think we might have to run away from here before it's too late?"

"Her questions terrified me," says Rina Anati in the post, "...(mainly) because of the conclusion...that most people refuse to deal with a reality that is too difficult, and tell themselves that it can't possibly be that bad. Only in this way do they manage to silence their fears, only in this way do they manage to explain the paralysis of the majority of the public who see that the government is acting against the people in a harmful way, see that it is breaking the law... see that it has been sacrificing civilians to murder at the hands of Hamas for a year and a half, and yet 'believe' that it won't be that bad."

What is missing from this post?

"That's all well and good, but what's distorted about this post?" Niv asks, and the answer is that I answered and so on, "Oppose Netanyahu, but support Zionism, which has been committing genocide in Gaza for the past year and a half, The aftermath of the Nakba of 48 and the occupation of 67, on the way to the full realization of the Zionist vision – A Jewish state, without Arabs, from the sea to the river."

Note: The author completely ignores the responsibility that Palestinian leaders have for the disasters that have befallen them, including the latter, and places full responsibility for the 'genocide' on Zionism.

“If you oppose the government but do not oppose the horrific crimes, to the point of genocide, that Israel is committing in Gaza…” says Kobi Niv, “then you support… genocide – You support the realization of the Zionist vision of a Jewish state, free of Arabs from sea to river."...It's not Netanyahu, but the Zionist vision... Netanyahu did not create this Zionist vision, but the Zionist vision created Netanyahu, and you cannot overthrow Netanyahu and leave the Zionist vision standing. On the contrary, in order to overthrow Netanyahu, you must overthrow and kill the Zionist vision."

In this article, Kobi Niv makes two claims:

1. "The horrific crimes committed by the Israeli government in Gaza" are nothing less thanThe realization of Zionist ideology, which inscribed on its flag the removal of Arabs from the territories of the Land of Israel.
2. Israelis who oppose the Israeli government, but do not oppose its actions, are complicit in the crime.
   is that so?
   I went to check the first claim – whether the Zionist vision actually advocates the existence of a Jewish state, Without guarantors From the sea to the river, as Kobi Niv claims?

A Jewish majority as a condition for survival

The Zionist vision has been shaped, changed and shaped over the years, depending on the historical and political changes in the world and the Middle East. This is also how the different streams of Zionism have adapted their approach to the issue of the Arabs of the Land of Israel. They all argued that a Jewish state could only exist if it had Jewish majority, but does not exist in the main streams of Zionism, an ideology of A Jewish state free of Arabs. Zionism aimed to establish a national home for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, even before World War II, but it was only able to realize this vision after the Holocaust – the genocide committed by the Nazis and their collaborators against the Jewish people during World War II. At that time, it was clear to all factions of Zionism that in order for such a state to exist in the Middle East, it must have Jewish majority.
Therefore, if a Jewish majority is a necessary condition for the existence of a Jewish state, then from which ones, The right ways to achieve such a majority? Here, opinions are divided and range from dividing the country into two states, to granting autonomy to the Arab population under Jewish rule, to annexing the territories inhabited by Arabs to the State of Israel, without them becoming citizens of the state (apartheid).

In all the streams of the Zionist movement prior to the establishment of the state, there was no significant stream that believed that the expulsion or elimination of the Arab population was a practical condition for the establishment of an independent Jewish state.
Even in the Revisionist movement, the right wing of Zionism, they saw life with the Palestinians as a given for the future. They believed that an agreement would only be possible after the Palestinians recognized the strength of Jewish settlement and its determination to remain. They advocated Full civil rights equality But they did not give up on the aspiration for Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. Their position was realistic and less optimistic about the possibility of early agreement, but did not rule out future cooperation. From a position of strength and equality.

So, contrary to Niv's claim in the article, The Zionist vision does not include a Jewish state, without Arabs, from the sea to the river.The main currents in Zionism strove to… A Jewish state, with a Jewish majority, alongside the Palestinian Arabs.

Opposition to the criminal and the criminal acts are one and the same.

… Then we realized that Zionism did not enshrine in its flag the carrying out of the Nakba and genocide against the Arabs in the Land of Israel.

Now let's examine Kobi Niv's second claim, which holds that if you oppose the government, but do not oppose its crimes, then you are in fact supporting its crimes. In other words, it is not enough to oppose the government, you must also oppose its actions (how exactly?). This is like saying that if I oppose robbers, but do not oppose robbery (how exactly?), then I am in fact supporting robbery. This is of course demagogy, because opposing the government is the same as opposing the government's crimes. It is true that there are also those who oppose the government not because of its crimes, but for other reasons, but this is not the case with Rina Anati and her ilk.

In conclusion: the current government does not represent Zionism, and its opponents are not complicit in its actions.

The root of all evil

Let's go back to the roots a bit – with the end of the British Mandate in 1948, the leaders of both nations were required to make a decision about where they were headed. To clarify the issue, I ask a hypothetical question:
If in 1948, the Palestinian leadership had accepted the partition plan, as the Jewish leadership decided at that time despite internal opposition, and had established a democratic Palestinian state in the partitioned territories, as the UN resolution demanded regarding the nature of the two states to be restored, and had accepted the right of the Jews to live in their land alongside the Palestinians, Would the two peoples have become enemies even then?
77 years have passed since that decision. This fateful decision determined the conflict between the two peoples, brought us countless wars, and cost both sides hundreds of thousands of casualties.

Unfortunately for both peoples, during all those years, there was no leadership on both sides at the same time that was able to establish the necessary change, as Saadat and Begin did.

Instead, and with many victims, the extreme nationalist movements on both sides grew stronger and dictated, and still dictate, the agenda.

Sister movements

Between the sea and the Jordan, there are currently two ideological, religious, nationalist, messianic, extremist movements that believe that their people, and they alone, have the right to the entire Land of Israel from the sea to the Jordan:

One, a group of nationalist Jewish parties that hold that the Land of Israel was promised by God to our forefather Abraham, literally – to the Jews, and believe in a “complete Land of Israel” for Jews only. These parties ran for the Knesset in the last elections under the name “Religious Zionism,” which included three parties belonging to the national religious stream (National Union, Otzma Yehudit, and Noam).

The second, a nationalist Islamic movement, derived from the Muslim Brotherhood, which holds that the Land of Israel was promised by God to Muslims, and believes in a "complete Land of Israel" for Muslims only. This is the Hamas movement, which was founded as a socio-religious movement in 1987, opposed the secular approach of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and maintains that the Jews should be destroyed or expelled from the Promised Land. The organization opposed giving up any part of Palestine and, in particular, opposed the two-state plan for two peoples.

These are two sister movements, the difference between which is the placement of the term Jewish/Muslim in the correct place in their teachings, and both claim exclusivity over the Holy Land while removing the other people from the place.

What about transfer?

The idea of ​​the transfer has been raised over the years by extremist fringe groups in Israeli politics. However, this fringe idea has grown stronger in recent years under the auspices of Netanyahu's "full-on-full-right" government and received a seal of approval under the auspices of the national trauma of October 7th.

Upon President Trump's return to the US presidency, he raised the idea of ​​transferring Gaza residents as a magic solution to this complicated equation. The extreme nationalist right in Israel, under the auspices of the Netanyahu government, enthusiastically embraced this idea. The Israeli government's security cabinet even approved the establishment of an "administration for the voluntary transfer of Gaza residents to third countries." (23.03.25)

The transfer of residents of a region, whether voluntarily or by force, has never happened and still does not happen. It is not a Zionist idea..

Dance with the devil?

Since seizing power from the Palestinian Authority by force in Gaza, the Hamas organization has devoted most of its efforts to building a military force - a terrorist army - and establishing a formidable underground fortress inside Gaza, while openly declaring its intentions to achieve its main goal: The destruction of the Zionist entity.

In light of this reality, which has been unfolding openly for all to see, it is difficult to understand the logic behind the policy of "containment" adopted by the Netanyahu governments. Under the auspices of this policy, the Israeli government approved the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to a murderous regime that openly threatens to destroy the State of Israel. A policy that in practice has enabled and encouraged the buildup of a hostile and dangerous military force across the fence.

The meaning of this reality is clear: the great military power in the Middle East, led by Netanyahu, She was afraid to face the devil, and instead decided to dance with him. Despite the warnings of political and security sources about the strengthening of the murderous terrorist organization that is located as if in the shadow of the western Negev settlements, and the danger expected from this strange policy, the 'right-wing government' chose to ignore these warnings, to continue arrogantly and stupidly to maintain a 'security' policy based on a technological obstacle that turned out to be a joke. In practice, it turned out that the murderous terrorist movement gained the support of the 'Zionist' government.

The results of the recent elections allowed Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government, only in partnership with the extreme right-wing parties. Hence, the survival of this government depended, and still depends, on the support of religious-Jewish Messianic parties, which Netanyahu raised from the bottom of the Israeli political barrel, solely to increase his chances of forming a government.

Netanyahu's obsession with staying in power led him to effectively hand over the reins of power to those extremist nationalist parties, thereby determining Israel's course according to their teachings, thereby determining the fate of the residents of the western Negev and the fate of the kidnapped. It follows that the rule of two nationalist, religious - messianic movements, on both sides of the border, is what brought us the holocaust of October 7th.

The continuation of the war

Unfortunately for the Palestinian people living in Gaza under Hamas terror, the State of Israel is a military power (fortunately for the citizens of the State of Israel). In addition, those Palestinians whose rulers chose to build their military power within the civilian population, and from there launch a psychopathic murderous attack on Israeli communities, were also unlucky.

In light of this reality, Israel's counter-reaction after the massacre could not have been a surgical military operation. The military fortress that Hamas had established in Gaza, above and below ground, was spread like a cancer in the tissue of Palestinian civil society, and treating this cancer required chemotherapy, a treatment that, as is well known, is accompanied by damage to innocent tissue. Fighting Hamas in this reality was impossible without the civilian population, behind which it was hiding, being mortally wounded, despite the IDF's efforts to isolate the two as much as possible.

The IDF's counterattack against Hamas did indeed inevitably harm the civilian population, but the problem that was and remains today, over a year and a half later, is the purpose and duration of this war. A military power like Israel should have defeated Hamas in a much shorter time. The real crime of the Netanyahu government is not the counterattack, but the endless prolongation of the war.

Palestinian civilians, Israeli civilians, and the unfortunate hostages are victims of the war not ending. It is Hamas and the Netanyahu government that caused this disaster, not Zionism, as Kobi Niv claims in his article.

Squeeze the ruling lemon

The Netanyahu government is cynically exploiting the feelings of anger, revenge, and fear that have gripped Israeli society and its solidarity, in order to remain in power for as long as possible, and in the process also to implement an extreme messianic religious ideology of a distinct political minority.

In order to squeeze this lemon of governmental power to the fullest, power given to it in the last elections, after a campaign of incitement, intimidation, threats, and deceptive false propaganda, this coalition will continue to hold on to the horns of the altar, to the bitter end, both at the cost of the suffering of millions of people, and at the cost of destroying democracy and harming the chances of the State of Israel's survival as a democratic Zionist entity.

Many find it difficult to distinguish the differences between the actions and omissions of this government and the fundamental principles of the Zionist, Jewish-democratic State of Israel, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. This is also the reason for the increase in anti-Semitism and opposition to Israel around the world, even in places where there is sympathy for the State of Israel and its struggle. In the eyes of many, the State of Israel and the Israeli government are one and the same.

The real problem

Therefore, the obvious conclusion from the above is that the problem is not Zionism, but Netanyahu, and the government he heads!

Netanyahu's drive to change the democratic nature of the State of Israel, to the point of turning it into a dictatorship, is designed to preserve his rule at all costs and to escape justice with the help of his messianic partners. This is a tangible and immediate danger to the continued existence of the State of Israel and the future of Zionism.

The answer, then, to Kobi Niv is: Netanyahu is the one who threatens the Zionist vision, not the other way around. Netanyahu was created for various reasons, but it is clear that Zionism is not one of them. The reasons for the conflict between the two peoples at this time are, on the one hand, the murderous Hamas organization, and on the other, Netanyahu, who nurtured Hamas, adopted an extreme nationalist, messianic policy, and refuses to put an end to this terrible war. Opposing Netanyahu also means opposing his actions..

The true path of Zionism was expressed by Yair Golan in his speech on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, when he said, among other things: We have been given a tremendous task to build a people and a nation. To build responsibly. To build with courage. To build with hope. To build a state that is a source of pride for Jews all over the world, to build a nation that is strong in terms of security. and moral, Which acts powerfully against its enemies, but does not forget Its foundations: human value, human dignity, human life.