Several Arab countries expressed dismay on Wednesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a day earlier that he felt a connection to the vision of “Greater Israel.”
In an interview with i24News aired on Tuesday evening, Netanyahu was asked by network anchor Sharon Gal if he “feels a connection” to a “vision” of Greater Israel, to which he responded: “Very much.”
The term Greater Israel refers to Israel in expanded borders in accordance with biblical or historical descriptions, and has many versions, some of which include parts of today’s Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It was popularized after the Six Day War of June 1967 to also refer to Israel and the areas it had just conquered — East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. It is still adopted by some far-right figures in Israel who express a desire to annex or eventually control many of those territories.
Gal, who was briefly a right-wing member of Knesset, asked the question after handing Netanyahu what he said was an amulet of “a map of the Promised Land,” which is not seen on screen. The news anchor has recently begun selling pendants that appear to feature a map of a relatively maximalist “Greater Israel.”
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and the Arab League all issued statements censuring Netanyahu’s comments and warning that they threaten regional and global stability.
A spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The border fence at the tripoint border between Israel, Syria, and Jordan, northern Israel, on February 15, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
Jordan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it condemns Netanyahu’s remarks, referring to them as a “dangerous and provocative escalation.”
The statement quoted Sufyan Qudah, a ministry spokesman, issuing an “absolute rejection of these inflammatory statements.” He added that such “claims and illusions, adopted and promoted by extremists in the Israeli government, encourage the continuation of cycles of violence and conflict.”
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the remark, saying Cairo had asked Israel for clarification given the “implications of provoking instability and reflecting a rejection of the pursuit of peace in the region, as well as an insistence on escalation.”
“This contradicts the aspirations of regional and international parties that are peace-loving and seek to achieve security and stability for all the peoples of the region,” it added.
In its own statement, Qatar’s foreign ministry expressed “its condemnation and denunciation” of Netanyahu’s comments, “considering them an extension of the occupation’s approach based on arrogance, fueling crises and conflicts.”
Doha added that the “false Israeli allegations and absurd inflammatory statements will not undermine the legitimate rights of Arab nations and peoples,” and reiterated Qatar’s “full support for all efforts aimed at achieving a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace in the region.”
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry issued a strong condemnation of the comments, as well as a “complete rejection of the settlement and expansionist ideas and projects adopted by the Israeli occupation authorities.” It also issued a warning “to the international community against the Israeli occupation’s continued blatant violations, which… threaten security and peace at both the regional and global levels.”
The Arab League’s statement on Netanyahu’s comments called them a “blatant violation of the sovereignty of Arab states and an attempt to undermine security and stability in the region.”
The remarks, it added, “reflect expansionist and aggressive intentions that cannot be accepted or tolerated” and also “expose a mentality steeped in colonial delusions.”
From left to right, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, holds a press conference following the ministerial committee of the Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Joint Summit on Gaza, in Amman, Jordan, June 1, 2025. (AP/Raad Adayleh)
The Palestinian Authority joined in the condemnations, describing them as “a provocation and a dangerous escalation that threatens the security and stability of the region, stemming from the occupation state’s expansionist colonial policies.”
Ramallah stressed that it is “committed to what has been approved by international legitimacy and international law on the establishment of the independent State of Palestine on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
The idea of Israel annexing portions of neighboring Arab countries as part of the “Greater Israel” vision is not widely accepted among mainstream Israelis, but the inclusion of some extremist ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition has provided the concept with more prominence.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich drew ire in March 2023 when he gave a speech in Paris from a podium that featured a map of “Greater Israel” — leading Jordan to summon its Israeli envoy in protest.
In response to the anger, the Foreign Ministry at the time reiterated that Israel is “committed to the 1994 peace agreement with Jordan. There has been no change in the position of the State of Israel, which recognizes the territorial integrity of the Hashemite Kingdom.”
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