Israeli Minister Announces ‘Border Expansion’ in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria

An Israeli minister has announced his government’s plan to expand the country’s borders into Syria, Lebanon and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Finance minister and Religious Zionist party leader Bezalel Smotrich gave a speech at the inauguration ceremony of a new illegal West Bank settlement on 9 April, where he said “there will be a final political leg” to the military actions of the war. 

This “final leg” includes expanding Israel to encompass parts of Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza, Smotrich said 

The comments were interpreted as a reference to the ‘Greater Israel’ project, which is based on a biblical idea that Israel should cover a much greater area than it currently does.

“We have a strong military arm with significant achievements, alongside a decisive political phase in Judea and Samaria that rejects the idea of dividing the land and establishing a terror state in the heart of the country,” Smotrich said,  according to the Israel National News.

“There will be a political component that completes the outcome in Gaza, one that expands our borders. There will be a political component in Lebanon that will extend our borders to the Litani River within defensible lines. There will also be a political dimension in Syria, at Mount Hermon and at least within the buffer zone.” 

Judea and Samaria is what the Israeli government calls the occupied West Bank. 

‘Greater Israel’ is an expansionist Zionist project based on Genesis 15:18-21– in which God promises Abraham’s descendants the land between the Nile in Egypt and the Euphrates in Syria. 

A more extreme interpretation of the Greater Israel project is popular with far-right elements of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, including Smotrich – who has previously said “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people” – and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has called for the full occupation of Gaza. 

The ceremony on Thursday was attended by ministers Yariv Levin, Eli Cohen, Shlomo Kari, Amichai Shikli and Knesset speaker Amir Ohana. 

Smotrich also bragged that the new Maoz Tzur settlement is one of “thirty communities in Binyamin alone” that have been “advanced since this government took office”. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law. 

He added: “What is remarkable is that they do not remain on paper or in cabinet decisions; through full partnership, they become roads, temporary housing, permanent homes, families and children.” 

This comes as Israel launched brutal waves of airstrikes on Lebanon this week, violating the fragile ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran. Netanyahu has falsely claimed that the ceasefire does not include Lebanon. On Wednesday, the Israeli military bombed Lebanon 100 times in just ten minutes. More than 300 people were reported killed, and at least 1,000 injured. 

Israel’s genocide in Gaza, ongoing since October 2023, has overshadowed a major uptick in settler violence in the West Bank. Settler violence has also increased during the US-Israeli war on Iran.