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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220613-palestinians-are-bound-to-win-why-israelis-are-prophesying-the-end-of-their-state/">middleeastmonitor.com</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Palestinians 'are bound to win': Why Israelis are prophesying the end of their state</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Dr Ramzy Baroud - June 13, 2022<br></div></div>
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<img src="cid:ii_l4d6ot060" alt="image.png" width="452" height="301"><br><p>While it is true that Zionism is a modern political ideology that has
exploited religion to achieve specific colonial objectives in
Palestine, prophecies continue to be a critical component of Israel's
perception of itself, and of the state's relationship with other groups,
especially Christian messianic groups in the United States and
worldwide.</p>
<p>The subject of religious prophecies and their centrality to Israel's
political thought was once more highlighted following remarks by former
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, in a recent <a href="https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/05/07/681651/Israel-will-cease-to-celebrate-its-80th-creation-anniversary,-former-prime-minister-Barak-says" target="_blank">interview</a> with the Hebrew-language newspaper <em>Yedioth Ahronoth</em>. Barak, perceived to be a 'progressive' politician, who was once the <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2021-01-14/ty-article/.premium/labor-party-board-asks-ehud-barak-to-run-for-party-leadership/0000017f-e5ce-dea7-adff-f5ffc1cf0000" target="_blank">leader</a>
of Israel's Labour Party, expressed fears that Israel will
"disintegrate" before the 80th anniversary of its 1948 establishment.</p>
<p>"Throughout the Jewish history, the Jews did not rule for more than
eighty years, except in the two kingdoms of David and the Hasmonean
dynasty and, in both periods, their disintegration began in the eighth
decade," Barak said.</p>
<p>Based on pseudo-historical analysis, Barak's prophecy seemed to
conflate historical facts with typical messianic Israeli thinking,
reminiscent of <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-10-10/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-israel-must-face-future-security-threats-to-reach-100/0000017f-e589-df2c-a1ff-ffd9f5e10000" target="_blank">statements</a> made by Israel's former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2017.</p>
<p>Like Barak, Netanyahu's comments were expressed in the form of fear
over the future of Israel, and the looming 'existential threat', the
cornerstone of Israeli hasbara throughout the years. At a Bible study
session in his house in Jerusalem, Netanyahu had then warned that the
Hasmonean kingdom – also known as the Maccabees – had merely survived
for 80 years before it was conquered by the Romans in 63 B.C.E.</p>
<p>The "Hasmonean state lasted only 80 years, and we needed to exceed this," Netanyahu was <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-10-10/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-israel-must-face-future-security-threats-to-reach-100/0000017f-e589-df2c-a1ff-ffd9f5e10000" target="_blank">quoted</a> by one of the attendees as saying, the Israeli <em>Haaretz</em> newspaper reported.</p>
<p>But, even according to Netanyahu's purported determination to exceed
that number, he had reportedly vowed to ensure Israel will surpass the
Maccabees' 80 years, and survive for 100 years. That is merely 20 years
more.</p>
<p>The difference between Barak and Netanyahu's statements is quite
negligible: the former's views are supposedly 'historical' and the
latter's are biblical. Worth noting, however, is that both leaders,
though they subscribe to two different political schools, have converged
on similar meeting points: Israel's survival is at stake; the
existential threat is real and the end of Israel is only a matter of
time.</p>
<p>But the pessimism in Israel is hardly confined to political leaders,
who are known to exaggerate and manipulate facts to instil fear and rile
up their political camps, especially Israel's powerful messianic
constituencies. Although this is true, predictions regarding Israel's
grim future are not confined to the country's political elites.</p>
<p>In an <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2019-01-22/ty-article-magazine/.premium/israel-will-decline-and-jews-will-be-persecuted-those-who-can-will-flee/0000017f-e552-d9aa-afff-fd5a159f0000" target="_blank">interview</a> with <em>Haaretz</em>
in 2019, one of Israel's most respected mainstream historians, Benny
Morris, had much to say about the future of his country. Unlike Barak
and Netanyahu, Morris was not sending warning signals but stating what,
to him, seemed an unavoidable outcome of the country's political and
demographic evolution.</p>
<p>"I don't see how we get out of it," Morris said, adding: "Already,
today there are more Arabs than Jews between the (Mediterranean) Sea and
the Jordan (River). The whole territory is unavoidably becoming one
state with an Arab majority. Israel still calls itself a Jewish state,
but a situation in which we rule an occupied people that has no rights
cannot persist in the 21st century."</p>
<p>Morris' predictions, while remaining committed to the racial fantasy
of a Jewish majority, were far more articulate and also realistic if
compared to those of Barak, Netanyahu and others. The man who once <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/2004-01-08/ty-article/survival-of-the-fittest-cont/0000017f-e86d-da9b-a1ff-ec6fb5000000" target="_blank">regretted</a> that Israel's founder, David Ben Gurion, did not expel all of Palestine's native population in 1947-48, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2019-01-22/ty-article-magazine/.premium/israel-will-decline-and-jews-will-be-persecuted-those-who-can-will-flee/0000017f-e552-d9aa-afff-fd5a159f0000" target="_blank">spoke</a> with resignation that, in a matter of a generation, Israel will cease to exist in its current form.</p>
<p>Particularly notable about his comments is the accurate perception
that "the Palestinians look at everything from a broad, long-term
perspective," and that the Palestinians will continue to "demand the
return of the refugees." But who were the "Palestinians" Morris was
referring to? Certainly not the Palestinian Authority, whose leaders
have already marginalised the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees,
and most certainly have no "broad, long-term perspective". Morris'
'Palestinians' are, of course, the Palestinian people themselves,
generations of whom have served, and continue to serve, as the vanguards
of Palestinian rights despite all of the setbacks, defeats and
political 'compromises'.</p>
<p>Actually, prophecies regarding Palestine and Israel are not a new
phenomenon. Palestine was colonised by Zionists with the help of
Britain, also based on biblical frames of reference. It was populated by
Zionist settlers based on biblical references dedicated to the
restoration of ancient kingdoms and the 'return' of ancient peoples to
their supposedly rightful 'promised land'. Though Israel took on many
different meanings throughout the years – perceived to be a 'socialist'
utopia at times, a liberal, democratic haven at others – it was always
preoccupied with religious meanings, spiritual visions and inundated
with prophecies. The most sinister expression of this truth is the fact
that the current <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/14/half-of-evangelicals-support-israel-because-they-believe-it-is-important-for-fulfilling-end-times-prophecy/" target="_blank">support</a> of Israel by millions of Christian fundamentalists in the West is largely driven by messianic, end-of-the-world prophecies.</p>
<div id="gmail-attachment_372849" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><img src="https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IMG_1679-scaled.jpg?fit=933%2C579&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1" alt="Still hope in Gaza despite destruction - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="452" height="281"></p><p class="gmail-wp-caption-text"><font size="1">Still hope in Gaza despite destruction – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]</font></p></div><p>The
latest predictions about Israel's uncertain future are based on a
different logic. Since Israel has always defined itself as a Jewish
State, its future is mostly linked to its ability to maintain a Jewish
majority in historic Palestine. By the admission of Morris and others,
this pipedream is now crumbling as the 'demographic war' is clearly and
quickly being lost.</p>
<p>Of course, co-existence in a single democratic state will always be a
possibility. Alas, for Israel's Zionist ideologues, such a state will
hardly meet the minimum expectations of the country's founders, since it
would no longer exist in the form of a Jewish, Zionist state. For
co-existence to take place, the Zionist ideology would have to be
scrapped altogether.</p>
<p>Barak, Netanyahu and Morris are all right: Israel will not exist as a
'Jewish state' for much longer. Speaking strictly in terms of
demographics, Israel is no longer a Jewish-majority state. History has
taught us that Muslims, Christians and Jews can peacefully coexist and
collectively thrive, as they have done throughout the Middle East and
the Iberian Peninsula for millennia. Indeed, this is a prediction, even a
prophecy that is worth striving for.</p>
<p>The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.</p>
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