The birth of Zionism as a political movement in the late 19th century was never simply about establishing a small safe haven for Jews on the Mediterranean coast.

The ideological writings of Theodor Herzl, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, and later religious nationalist movements are not limited to the 1948 or 1967 lines of the borders of"Eretz Yisrael"; It clearly demonstrated that it was designed to encompass Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and even parts of Turkey. The 1917 Balfour Declaration, British mandate policies, and phased settlement projects all followed the same long-term trajectory: step-by-step expansion until the"historical homeland" was completely under Jewish sovereignty. In this context, Netanyahu's recent statement to i24, in which he sees himself as part of a"historical and spiritual mission" and declares his commitment to the vision of a "Greater Israel," is not a deviation from Zionism; it is its purest expression. Nevertheless, the fact that he says this so brazenly in 2025, while already committing genocide, should shake the world. Netanyahu is not merely acting as a politician resisting a Palestinian state; he is embracing a project that completely erases it. This is not a political nuance; it is a declaration of his intention to annex, cleanse, and redesign the region's demographics. Worse still, this intention is not met with universal condemnation; rather, it is met with military, financial, and diplomatic support from Israel's state sponsors—chiefly the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and their dutiful Western allies. These governments feign outrage in the face of humanitarian catastrophes while replenishing the arsenals that create them. Let's be clear: This is neither a defensive war nor a haphazard slide into extremism. It is the fulfillment of a vision that predates the State of Israel. Every bomb that falls on Rafah, every land grab in the West Bank, every strangulation of the Gaza economy is another brick laid in the architecture of"Greater Israel." And every Western veto at the UN, every arms shipment sent, every"unbreakable bond" speech delivered, is the mortar between those bricks. It has been forgotten countless times throughout history: The greed that fuels expansion becomes the seed of collapse. Israel's long-term game—normalizing permanent occupation, trivializing apartheid—will ultimately be its endgame. No state can maintain its legitimacy indefinitely by denying millions of people their rights and dignity.

History has shown us that regimes based on usurpation collapse not when they are at their weakest, but when they believe themselves invulnerable. And Netanyahu, by announcing his"historic mission," perhaps signaled the beginning of that end.