TEHRAN - Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shocked the world by saying that he is backing a “Greater Israel” vision.

There are serious questions why Netanyahu openly speaks about such an evil plan.

There are credible reasons why Netanyahu has become so emboldened and says he is on a “historic and spiritual mission” to extend Israel’s border that in his vision includes the occupied West Bank and parts of Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.

These unsettling remarks come as Israeli military has occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and parts of southern Lebanon and southern Syria following the war with Hezbollah and the ouster of the Assad regime in 2024.

Israeli extremists are even eying on the land of countries, such as Jordan and Egypt, that have signed peace treaty with them.

Netanyahu feels emboldened because his army has been committing every imaginable crime against the Palestinian people in Gaza for about two years without facing any punishment, including economic sanctions.

Now those Western countries - the United States and Western European countries in particular- that have enabled Israel to commit horrible crimes in Gaza through providing it with the most sophisticated weapons and political support must now get ready for possible new military adventures by Israel.

The opponents of his genocidal acts in the West have been accused of anti-Semitism and Hamas sympathizers. The United States has imposed sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) for issuing arrest warrant against Netanyahu and his former so-called defense minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

U.S. Senator, Tom Cotton, even went too far and made military action against the ICC. He invoked a controversial U.S. law known as “The Hague Invasion Act”. Writing on X on Nov. 21, 2024, the Republican senator declared: “The ICC is a kangaroo court and Karim Khan (the ICC chief prosecutor) is a deranged fanatic. Woe to him and anyone who tries to enforce these outlaw warrants. Let me give them all a friendly reminder: the American law on the ICC is known as The Hague Invasion Act for a reason. Think about it.”

In the West, students also faced violence, suspension or expulsion for protesting war on Gaza war. The Trump administration illegally cut 2.6 billion dollars in research funding for Harvard University. The administration has also restricted the university from enrolling new foreign students. In Germany students were labelled “terrorist sympathizers”.

These moves along with political support have made Netanyahu feel free and even imagine that he has “spiritual mission” to extend the borders of Israel.

The countries that Israel has covetous eye on and others must know feel compelled to do something serious to stop Israel from embarking on its vicious goals.

The international community, especially the United Nations, particularly its Security Council, must force Netanyahu apologize for his vicious remarks.

It is not the first time that the idea of a greater Israel is being raised.  According to Middle East Monitor, the Israeli Foreign Ministry last January published on one of its electronic platforms an alleged map with a caption fabricating an Israeli history dating back thousands of years, in line with repeated Hebrew claims of a “Jewish kingdom” that includes parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.

Also, last year, in a documentary, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was filmed advocating for the expansion of Israeli borders to include Damascus. He suggested that Israel would gradually grow to encompass not only all Palestinian territories but also parts of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

“It is written that the future of Jerusalem is to expand to Damascus,” he said, invoking the “Greater Israel” ideology.

Such comments are made while Israel, including its prime minister, says Israel wants to live in peace with its neighbors and the U.S. is desperately seeking to convince Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords and normalize ties with Israel.

These dangerous remarks show that Israel is not seeking peace with neighbors. Rather its vicious-minded officials feel they have a divine mission to grab the land of neighbors and even non-neighbors such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq. This list may extend to include other countries.

Netanyahu’s comments resemble greatly to those of ISIS (Daesh) that wanted and still want to capture all Muslim states and form their “promised” Islamic Caliphate.