Zionist strategy for dividing the Arab East

In his third article on Zionist thought, Hassan Nafaa* reveals how Israel has always wanted the East and northern Arab states to collapse

By Hassan Nafaa, professor of political science at Cairo University
Al-Ahram Weekly

"Oded Yinon's paper A Strategy for Israel in the 1980s was first published in Hebrew, appearing in Kivunin, a magazine specialised in Jewish and Zionist affairs, in February 1982. It was translated into English by Professor Israel Shahak, a prominent Israeli human rights activist in June of the same year. Shahak, who republished under the title The Zionist Plan for the Middle East, with additional comments in a foreword and epilogue, called the paper the most eloquent expression yet of Zionist thinking.

In the first article of this series, I reviewed the general traits of the Zionist strategy as formulated by Yinon. In the second article, I tackled the Zionist way of dealing with Egypt. In the present article, I will focus on the Zionist strategy with regard to the Arab East.

Yinon's paper leaves one in no doubt that the Zionist movement approaches the Arab East -- Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq -- differently from the rest of the Arab and Islamic world. The Zionist movement is generally interested in dividing other Arab world countries for security-related and economic reasons. But its interest in the Arab East runs deeper. So the Zionist project is not just about dividing the Arab East or redrawing its map. It is about geographical expansion within that area. The Zionists want to seize and colonise more land in the Arab East as a prelude to annexing that land to the Jewish state. More specifically, they wish to introduce major demographic changes involving forcible displacement of the population.......

Much of Yinon's predictions failed. Israel couldn't divide Lebanon. It couldn't put in power a Lebanese government that would do its bidding. It couldn't even force Lebanon to sign a peace treaty. Within a few months, Hizbullah came into life and spearheaded the resistance against the Israeli occupation and its proxy militia Israel kept in the south. In 2000, Israel pulled out unconditionally from Lebanon. Israel couldn't even protect the one militia leader it had counted on to establish a mini-state in the south. Syria is still united to this day.

But this is not reason to belittle Yinon's importance. We should make a distinction between what Israel wants and what it can do. Not everything Israel wants can be implemented in the exact time, venue and manner it wants. But it is important to understand that the strategy Yinon suggested truly reflects the workings of the Zionist mind. And it faithfully mirrors Israel's explicit and implicit policies. The fact that Israel invaded Lebanon only four months after Yinon's study was published is significant. Israel did its best to break Lebanon into sectarian cantons. It failed, but it hasn't given up.

Iraq is also relevant. There was nothing subtle about the way Israel egged the Americans to invade Iraq, although we may not yet know all the details. US strategy in Iraq is utterly sectarian, and it has shaken the Arab East to the core. And let's keep in mind that Lebanon is once again haunted by civil war. So perhaps it is time we take Yinon's mindset seriously."