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REPORT ON ZIONISM AS A MAXIMALIST IDEOLOGY

BY

PROFESSOR SAMI A. AL-ARIAN

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A. INSTRUCTIONS

1. I have been instructed by Riverway Law to provide a report on matters within my expertise in support of the application to the British Home Secretary to deproscribe Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah (‘Hamas’).

2. The British government engages with the Israeli government without due regard to the centrality of Zionism as a maximalist ideology that seeks to dispossess Palestinians of their land. This report charts the history of Zionism’s attempts to bring about an ethno-nationlist Zionist state across the entirety of the Palestinian land – from the river to the sea – from the time of Benzion Netanyahu to the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

B. QUALIFICATIONS

3. I give this report in my personal capacity.

4. I am the Director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) and Professor at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University in Turkey.

5. I received my PhD in Computer Engineering in 1986, and was a tenured academic in the US for 17 years receiving best teaching awards at the University of South Florida (1993 and 1994) and several grants, as well as having over forty academic publications to my credit.

6. During my four decades in the US (1975-2015), I founded numerous institutions and publications in the fields of education, research, religion and interfaith, as well as civil and human rights. I was a prolific speaker across many US campuses, especially on Palestine, Islam and the West, and Civil Rights. In 2001, I was named by Newsweek the “premier civil rights activist” in the US for my efforts to repeal the use of Secret Evidence in immigration courts. In 2012, I was profiled by historians in the Encyclopedia of American Dissidents as one of only three Muslims in the US out of 152 dissidents and prisoners of conscience that were included in the series in the past century (along with Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali).  My US story was featured in 2007 in the award-winning documentary US vs. Al-Arian, and in 2016 in the book Being Palestinian.

7. I have written several studies and numerous articles focusing on US foreign policy, Palestine, and the Arab Spring phenomena. My book of poetry on Spirituality, Palestine, and Human Rights Conspiring Against Joseph was published in 2004. I am also the author of The Arab Awakening Unveiled: Understanding Transformations and Revolutions in the Middle East, Washington, DC, American Educational Trust, 2013 (under the pen name Esam Al-Amin), and The United States and Israel: From Enabler to Strategic Partner, IZU Publications, 2019. At CIGA I have edited several books (IZU Publications) including Civil-Military Relations in Muslim Societies; Governance and Political Authority in the Muslim World; and Challenging Apartheid in Palestine; and The Global War on Terror.

C. THE CONTINUITY OF MAXIMALIST ZIONISM

8. The situation in Gaza has been characterised by statements from Israeli lawmakers advocating for extermination, starvation, and even nuclear attacks against the Palestinian population. Such rhetoric and actions are embedded within a historical trajectory of maximalist Zionism. This ideology, deeply intertwined with fascist and racist frameworks, has perpetuated systemic violence and dispossession, most notably exemplified by the Nakba of 1948 and its ongoing implications.

9. This report examines the influence of Benzion Netanyahu, the father of Israel’s current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the enduring impact of Revisionist Zionism led by its founder Ze’ev Jabotinsky on contemporary Israeli politics, particularly within the Likud party. The discussion also considers how various writers have used these ideological currents to rationalise Palestinian resistance.

10. Benzion Netanyahu, born as Benzion Mileikowsky on March 25, 1910, in Poland, was a historian, encyclopaedist, and medievalist. Upon immigrating to Palestine in 1920, ¹he adopted the name ‘Netanyahu,’ meaning ‘God has given.’ This practice of name-changing was common among European colonial settlers and was often employed to project an appearance of Hebrew ancestry, obscuring their non-Middle Eastern origins. For instance, David Ben-Gurion, the founding figure of the Zionist state, was originally named David Green.²

11. Benzion Netanyahu espoused hawkish, racially supremacist views that significantly influenced his son. He is noted for his assertion that the “vast majority of Israeli Arabs would choose to exterminate us if they had the option to do so.”³ These ethnic and nationalist narratives in Israeli statecraft are part of a broad context of Zionist expansionism.

D. REVISIONIST ZIONISM AND FASCISM

12. Of its founding principles, Revisionist Zionism advocates for ‘Territorial Maximalism,’ a militant vision for Jewish domination over Eretz Yisrael. This concept encompasses the biblical notion of Greater Israel, including all remaining Palestinian territories, as well as regions of Transjordan (modern-day Jordan), Sinai, and parts of modern day Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.

13. The ideological roots of this perspective are traced to Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a pivotal figure in Zionist thought, who founded several militant organizations. Emerging from the World War I-era British-aligned Jewish Legion, these groups evolved into increasingly militant factions such as the Hagana and later the Irgun Zvai Leumi (Irgun) as well as the Stern gang (Lehi). The Irgun and Lehi played a leading role in the ethnic cleansing campaigns of the 1948 Nakba.⁴ The Likud party had its origin⁵ in these two militant groups.

14. More than a century ago, on November 4, 1923, Jabotinsky, published his article “The Iron Wall,” in which he addressed the question of “colonizing Palestine.” In his essay, he explicitly advocated for unyielding violence to achieve Zionist goals, famously stating that Arab resistance could only be overcome by an ‘Iron Wall’ of unassailable Jewish military strength as the Arabs would not willingly concede their land.⁶ He wrote:

“Every native population in the world resists colonists as long as it has the slightest hope of being able to rid itself of the danger of being colonized. That is what the Arabs in Palestine are doing and what they will persist in doing as long as there remains a solitary spark of hope that they will be able to prevent the transformation of “Palestine” into the “Land of Israel.”

15. In the same essay, he argued that an agreement with the Palestine Arabs (then) was impossible. He admitted that the Jews had come to colonize Palestine and noted that history proved no nation ever accepted being colonized and, therefore, revolted against the colonizers. He concluded:

“Zionist colonization must either stop, or else proceed regardless of the native population.”

16. Jabotinsky's policy of no negotiation or compromise significantly influenced Palestinian resistance and shaped its framing as a liberation struggle “from the River to the Sea,” countering what is naturally perceived as a violent colonial enterprise.

17. In 1940, Benzion Netanyahu went to New York and served as assistant to the secretary of Jabotinsky, who was seeking to build American support for his militant New Zionists.⁷

18. In 2017, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanuayu, said ‘I have Jabotinsky’s works on my shelf, and I read them often.’⁸ On many occasions he boasted that he keeps the Jabotinsky’s sword in his office.⁹

19. On July 18, 2023, Netanuayu, said, “One hundred years after the 'iron wall' was stamped in Jabotinsky's writings we are continuing to successfully implement these principles. I say 'continuing' because the need to stand as a powerful iron wall against our enemies has been adopted by every Government of Israel, from the right and the left.”¹⁰

E. THE WEB OF REFORMIST ZIONISM

20. Benzion Netanyahu regarded Joseph Klausner as a key intellectual mentor, adopting Klausner's view of Arabs as a threatening "nation of half-savages." Such views deeply influenced Benzion's son, Benjamin Netanyahu,¹¹ and his political strategies.

21. Benzion also maintained ties with Aba Ahimeir, whose ideologies heavily impacted militant groups such as the Irgun and Lehi. Ahimeir, self-identifying as a fascist in the late 1920s, authored a series of articles titled "From the Notebook of a Fascist"^{12 13} and founded Brit HaBirionim (Union of Zionist Rebels), a clandestine faction of the Revisionist Zionism Movement (ZRM) modelled on Italian Fascism and active between 1930 and 1933.¹⁴ Streets in multiple Israeli cities now honour Ahimeir, and in 2002, his image was commemorated on a postage stamp.

22. Christopher Hitchens, in his 1998 article The Iron Wall, argued that Benzion Netanyahu's association with Ahimeir reflected fascism as a guiding ideology, which shaped Benjamin Netanyahu's policies and actions, culminating in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

23. The Irgun, a product of Revisionist Zionism, was responsible for several acts of terrorism, most notably the 1946 bombing of the King David Hotel, which killed 91 British servicemen, marking the deadliest attack against British forces in history. This order came from Menachem Begin, who later became Israel's sixth Prime Minister and a leader of the Likud Party. The Irgun also orchestrated the 1948 Deir Yassin massacre, where over 100 Palestinian villagers, including women and children¹⁵ were killed, prompting mass Palestinian expulsion and displacement. ¹⁶

24. The Lehi, another offshoot of Revisionist Zionism, also participated in the Deir Yassin massacre. Known for its vehemently anti-British stance, Lehi even sought alliances with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during the 1940s, viewing Britain as the primary adversary.¹⁷ Although Lehi's repeated assassinations of European diplomats led to its designation as a terrorist organisation, its members were pardoned by the Israeli government in 1949.¹⁸ In 1980, the Lehi Ribbon was introduced as a military honour, recognising the group's role in Israel's establishment. Yitzhak Shamir, a former leader of Lehi, became Israel's Prime Minister in 1983.

25. The Lehi newspaper He Khazit (The Front) famously articulated the group's militant ethos in an article titled Terror, stating:

“Neither Jewish ethics nor Jewish tradition can disqualify terrorism as a means of combat. We are very far from having any moral qualms as far as our national war goes. We have before us the command of the Torah, whose morality surpasses that of any other body of laws in the world: ‘Ye shall blot them out to the last man.’”¹⁹

F. THE LEGACY OF PLAN DALET AND SYSTEMATIC ETHNIC CLEANSING

26. The 1948 massacres following Deir Yassin, including those in Palestinian villages such as Qalunya, Saris, Beit Surik, and Biddu, were swift and devastating. In each instance, Hagana forces demolished homes and forcibly expelled residents in operations lasting scarcely an hour. These actions were integral to Plan Dalet, a strategic framework for the systematic destruction of Palestinian rural and urban centres aimed at ethnic cleansing.

27. Although atrocities such as Deir Yassin are often attributed to fringe groups like Irgun and Lehi, they occurred under the overarching authority of the Hagana. This organization later merged with other factions to form the modern Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). As historian Ilan Pappe observes:

“The systematic nature of Plan Dalet is manifested in Deir Yassin, a pastoral and cordial village that had reached a non-aggression pact with the Hagana in Jerusalem, but was doomed to be wiped out because it was within the areas designated in Plan Dalet to be cleansed... the Hagana decided to send the Irgun and Stern Gang troops, so as to absolve themselves from any official accountability. In the subsequent cleansings of 'friendly' villages, even this ploy would no longer be deemed necessary.”²⁰

G. ZIONISM AS AN IDEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING

28. The foundational ideology of Zionism extends beyond the extremist articulations of Revisionist Zionism, embedding ethnic cleansing as a central mechanism for territorial acquisition. Figures often considered centrist, such as Yitzhak Rabin of the Labor Party, also implemented policies with devastating consequences. On July 10, 1948, Rabin, as Deputy Commander under Yigal Allon, both appointed by David Ben-Gurion, oversaw the aerial bombardment of Lydd (modern-day Lod), the first city to face such an attack. This operation resulted in 426 civilian deaths, including 176 people massacred in the Dahamish Mosque. Days later, Jewish forces expelled 50,000 residents, forcing them to march the infamous ‘Snake Trail’ to the West Bank.²¹

29. Unlike other strands of Zionism, Revisionist Zionism continues to openly articulate its territorial ambitions, advocating for Jewish sovereignty “from the River to the Sea.” This phrase, when employed by Palestinians to articulate their resistance, has been criminalised in parts of Europe.²² Yet, the Israeli Likud Party's 1977 election platform declared:

"Judea and Samaria will not be placed under foreign rule; Israeli sovereignty will extend from the Sea to the Jordan River."²³

30. Haaretz journalist Ravit Hecht recently branded the slogan as a call “for ethnic cleansing, similar to the one that took place in the Gaza ‘envelope’.”²⁴

31. Menachem Begin reiterated this slogan during that time. Other contemporary genocidal rhetoric such as inflicting ‘Nakba 2023’ on Gaza, as well as President Hertzog’s reference to Gazans as ‘human animals’ has gone largely unabated by western governments.²⁵

H. BENZION NETANYAHU AND HISTORICAL PARADOXES

32. Benzion Netanyahu, a noted scholar of Jewish history, paradoxically specialised in the study of Jewish flourishing under Muslim rule in Spain's golden age. During this era, Jewish communities thrived culturally, intellectually, and economically under the Umayyad Caliphate in Andalusia.

33. The golden Jewish period is usually dated from the reign of Arab Amir ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil (890–961) until 1066 when the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba ended. The later 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Christian Spain saw more than 130,000 move to Muslim lands.²⁶ Yet, despite this historical context, Benzion espoused deeply antagonistic views, asserting in a 2009 interview with Maariv:

"The tendency to conflict is the essence of the Arab. He is an enemy by essence. His personality won't allow him to compromise... His existence is one of perpetual war."²⁷

I. RESISTANCE AS A RATIONAL RESPONSE

34. Edward Said underscores that Zionism's disregard for the indigenous population renders resistance inevitable. In The Question of Palestine, he writes:

"Such as it is, the Palestinian actuality is today, was yesterday, and most likely tomorrow will be built upon an act of resistance to this new foreign colonialism. But it is more likely that there will remain the inverse resistance which has characterized Zionism and Israel since the beginning: the refusal to admit, and the consequent denial of, the existence of Palestinian Arabs who are there not simply as an inconvenient nuisance, but as a population with an indissoluble bond with the land..."²⁸

35. Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian poet echoes this sentiment in "Identity Card," a poignant articulation of dispossession and resilience:

“You stole my forefathers' vineyards

And the land I used to till,

Me and all my children.

Nothing is left for us

Except these rocks...

Will your government take them too?

Until he says:

So!

    Put it on record at the top of page one:

    I don't hate people,

    I trespass on no one's property.

And yet, if I were to become hungry

    I shall eat the flesh of my usurper.”²⁹

J. THE CONTINUATION OF MAXIMALIST ZIONISM

36. The current Zionist leadership intensifies the foundational ambitions of its predecessors, exacting severe human and material tolls on Palestinians. As the late Yasser Arafat declared in his 1974 UN speech:

“The racist entity, founded on the imperialist-colonialist concept, turned itself into a base of imperialism and into an arsenal of weapons.  This enabled it to assume its role of subjugating the Arab people and of committing aggression against them, in order to satisfy its ambitions for further expansion on Palestinian and other Arab lands…

Concluding this speech with:

Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom-fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat: do not let the olive branch fall from my hand…”³⁰

37. The right to self-determination for the Palestinian people and their right to resist their occupiers by all means are well established in international law. In 1960, U.N. resolution 1514³¹ adopted the “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.” It stated that, “All peoples have the right to self-determination”, and that, “the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights and is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations.”

38. In 1970, the U.N. adopted Resolution 2625³² which called on its members to support colonized people or people under occupation against their colonizers and occupiers. In addition, U.N. Resolution 3246³³ reaffirmed in 1974 “the legitimacy of the peoples’ struggle for liberation from colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation by all available means, including armed struggle.”

39. In 1974,U.N. Resolution 33/24³⁴ strongly confirmed “the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, particularly armed struggle,” and “strongly condemned all governments” that did not recognize “the right to self-determination to the Palestinian people.”

40. The escalation of maximalist policies has left no room for diplomacy, with resistance, as sanctioned in international law, emerging as the only recourse for a colonised people fighting for survival.

K. EXPERT OBLIGATIONS

41. I confirm that I have made clear which facts and matters referred to in this report are within my own knowledge and which are not. Those that are within my own knowledge I confirm to be true. The opinions I have expressed represent my true and complete professional opinions on the matters to which they refer.

42. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought by anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.

43. I confirm that I have not received any remuneration for preparing this report.

Professor Sami A. Al-Arian

Center of Islam and Global Affairs

Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim Univesity

Istanbul, Turkey

21 December 2024