UNPROMISED AND PROMISED

Calls for a Greater Israel are gaining currency since the Hamas attack. But any move to do so would only lead to a wider regional war

- Seema Guha 

THE Hamas attack has given fresh ammunition to the orthodox religious right in Israel—to dream of recreating the mythical land of milk and honey that was promised to the Jews in the Bible. God’s chosen people, the children of Israel, have a right to their inheritance, and the current state of Israel does not conform to the Biblical contours and must be expanded. The toxic mix of religion and politics—brought in by the fringe groups of ultra-nationalists and religious extremists that are part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet-is now being played out in both the Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank. Their ambition is to reclaim the legacy of Abraham and also rebuild the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.

"The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God," is one of the many references that Zionists quote to claim their inheritance of the Promised Land.

The land of Canaan, mentioned in the Old Testament, encompasses modern day Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan and southern parts of Syria and Lebanon. The ultimate aim is to reclaim the biblical land of Canaan. This is the land that the tribes of Israel conquered after their exodus from Egypt and the Canaanites are people they drove out.