August 2025 saw a series of public statements and policies that serve as compelling evidence that Israel does not seek peace with the Palestinians, but rather pursues its colonial ambitions and its goal of dominating the Middle East.
Israel seeks to pursue a plan to dominate the Middle East by seizing more territory and dividing the nation-states surrounding it, especially the Levant, along sectarian lines. These goals will have dire regional and global consequences if left unaddressed by the international and Arab communities.
Until recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored international calls for a ceasefire and has ignored global appeals for humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and support for a ceasefire aimed at achieving a two-state solution.
On the contrary. Netanyahu has embarked on a plan to occupy all Gaza under the pretext of fighting Hamas. He has also criticised neighbouring countries for refusing to allow Palestinians fleeing Israeli bombardment to enter their territories.
Israel’s position
The Israeli Prime Minister publicly affirmed on state television his explicit, religiously motivated aspirations for Greater Israel—a term often used to refer to Palestine and other territories in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar also publicly said that the establishment of a Palestinian state would be tantamount to Israel's suicide, once again using the false security threat argument to justify his policies. Sa'ar also criticised countries that have recently recognised Palestine or announced their intention to do so.
Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank has intensified recently, with aggressive settlers expanding housing projects. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the Israeli government's approval of the infamous E1 settlement project, which had been frozen. He stated that this move would "bury the idea of a Palestinian state once and for all." By linking Jerusalem to the Ma'ale Adumim settlement, the West Bank is permanently divided in half and making the establishment of a future Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem virtually impossible.
Until the ceasefire, random Palestinian deaths in Gaza continued to exceed 100 a day, including the deliberate killing of local journalists. The death toll has exceeded 60,000, while casualties have reached 150,000. Humanitarian aid to Gaza remained symbolic and intermittent.
Israel's actions blatantly demonstrate its pursuit of Palestinian subjugation or displacement. Arab and Muslim states have strongly opposed this position, but they and the rest of the world must insist on an official and codified Israeli denial of these ambitions. They must also politically confront repeated Israeli incursions into neighbouring countries, whatever the pretext.
It is alarming that Israel continues to pursue its own path of blatant human rights violations through its ongoing occupation of territory, its perpetration of genocide, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, and its direct targeting of civilians and health services.
The response by Arab nations
In response, Arab criticism of Israel's expansionist policies has increased, including from states that have signed formal peace agreements with Israel, those involved in the Abraham Accords, and from leading Arab peacemakers. The aforementioned Israeli positions have also generated a growing belief among Arab societies across the region that Israel does not want peace and that its policies pose a tangible threat to the security of all states in the region.
The scope of international sanctions against Israeli transgressions has expanded, as these violations undermine the limited prospects for peace, raise regional security concerns, and undermine the remaining credibility of the imperfect global order. However, sanctions alone are not enough. Subsequent measures by the Arab world and the international community are equally necessary.
The Israeli political establishment must recognise the political, security, social, and economic costs resulting from the war it is waging and from its choice to become a pariah state acting outside the bounds of international norms.
For this to happen, states must reject or challenge the Israeli fallacy that criticising Israel's policies is tantamount to anti-Semitism. Israel must recognise that it cannot achieve sustainable security at the expense of Arab states, and that the prerequisite for achieving security and normal relations in peace is the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The world must also realise that indifference or inaction in confronting continued Israeli violations will have multiple and serious repercussions, both in the Middle East and beyond. Regional communities will lose hope in resolving conflicts peacefully, and international norms and institutions will lose their credibility and effectiveness.
Photo: The Golan Heights, on the border of Syria and Lebanon, which forms part of Greater Israel. (by Adobe).