The Middle East has long been the focal point of religious war because it favours heavily in the starting point of three of the world's great religions. In medieval times great armies fought wars that lasted centuries for control of the city of Jerusalem.
On May 14, 1948 the newly formed United Nations voted to grant Israel a homeland that immediately sparked a war of independence with its Arab neighbours that lasted until 1949. The dispossession of the Palestinian people living in what is now Israel has been the cause of several subsequent wars and the Israeli military has emerged as the victor in each of these encounters.
Jewish people suffered horribly in the second world war when Nazi Germany unleashed the Holocaust. At the time of Israel's creation, many hoped that eventually there would be peace in the Middle East and Israel and the Palestinians would learn to live side by side in newly created national states. Numerous attempts to create that have failed.
Israel has become a small nation surrounded by Arab enemies and its success in repulsing Arab invasions has enlarged its borders. The West bank, the Gaza strip and the Golan Heights are areas recognised by International law as " land sized in war " and as such can not be annexed. This has resulted in armed tension between the Israeli military occupiers and the Palestinians who live as virtual prisoners.
The West Bank is critical to the eventual creation of a separate Palestinian homeland and Jewish settlers have been steadily encroaching on it with new home constructions. These settlements are illegal, but Israel has done little to stop their spread and now - with an election looming - a desperate prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promising to ignore the United Nations and declare this West Bank land as legally part of the Israeli state.
What seems to have embolden Netanyahu is the tacit support of Donald Trump. The American president enraged Islamic countries when he announced that the US embassy in Israel would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This formally recognised Jerusalem as the nations capital and destroyed the hope it could be an independent capital for a future Palestinian state.
This seems a desperation move by Netanyahu to bolster political support at a time he is facing corruption charges, but it could easily spark a new war with surrounding Arab countries. The West Bank is home to about 2.8 million Palestinians and at present it has just 400,00 Jewish settlers. It seems inevitable that if new settlers rush in to claim land it will displace Palestinians.
When Israel got the UN vote in its favour to create a Jewish state there was immense sympathy worldwide because of the Holocaust. This move to annex the West Bank in defiance of United Nations law is a form of arrogance that will not go down well with the independent nations that make up the rank and file of the UN.
Donald Trump is playing with fire if he continues to encourage Netanyahu to ignore UN protocols and expand Israel's borders to the detriment of its Palestinian citizens. That could encourage Americas enemies to give military support to the Arab nations that surround Israel and expand the conflict. It would be wise if Netanyahu had second thoughts on that dangerous gamble !
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