Greater Israel ('From the Nile to the Euphrates')

Le Grand Israel ('du Nil a l'Euphrate')

Speculative

0.28

Credibility score

Geopolitical SionismeExpansion territorialeTheorie du complot Speculative First appearance : Debut du sionisme / Amplifie dans les annees 1980+ par le Plan Yinon

Summary

The 'Greater Israel' theory alleges that Israel is pursuing a plan of territorial expansion covering a territory stretching from the Nile (Egypt) to the Euphrates (Iraq), encompassing Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and parts of Iraq, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. This theory is an extrapolation of biblical texts and certain marginal currents of Zionism, amplified by actual Israeli annexation policies and the Yinon Plan.

Detailed description

ORIGINS OF THE CONCEPT:

Genesis 15:18: 'On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, and said: I give this land to your descendants, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.'
Revisionist Zionism of Vladimir Jabotinsky: advocated for a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River
Certain Israeli messianic movements interpret the biblical text as a divine mandate

REAL-WORLD ANNEXATION POLICIES:

Annexation of East Jerusalem (1967, formalized 1980)
Annexation of the Golan (1981)
Ongoing colonization of the West Bank (700,000+ settlers)
Annexation plans for the Jordan Valley (Israeli political debate)
Statements by far-right ministers (Smotrich, Ben Gvir) regarding annexation

CONSPIRATORIAL EXTRAPOLATION:

Some interpret Israeli banknotes as containing a symbol of the 'Greater Israel'
The Yinon Plan is cited as evidence of an expansion plan
Wars in the Middle East are interpreted as steps towards the 'Greater Israel'

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

No Israeli government has ever officially pursued the 'Greater Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates'
Actual annexation policies are geographically much more limited
The theory of the 'Greater Israel' is frequently used by antisemitic sources
The concept exists in marginal currents but has never been a state policy