[That's ethnic cleansing/genocide]
Carrying planks of plywood, a group of Israeli settlers pushed past soldiers guarding the barrier surrounding the
Gaza Strip and quickly got to work. Within minutes, the young men had erected two small buildings — outposts, they said, of a future Jewish settlement in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
Their movement had hungered for this moment for years, but now, after
Oct. 7, they felt it was just a matter of time before Jews would be living in Gaza again.
“It is ours,” said David Remer, 18. “[God] said it is ours.”
[Under this definition of Zionism, I am an anti-Zionist.]
Although they are not politically homogeneous, most religious Zionists embrace far-right views. They loudly oppose a cease-fire deal to bring home Israeli hostages, and have repeatedly blocked humanitarian assistance from entering
Gaza by standing in front of aid trucks.
It’s a goal embraced by some of the top leaders in
Israel’s far-right government, many of whom appeared at a recent Jerusalem rally pushing for Gaza’s resettlement. While videos played showing Israel’s brutal military assault on the enclave and organizers shared brochures promising new houses with views of the Mediterranean Sea,
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sang religious songs alongside participants and told them: “Now is the time to return home.”
In a recent video from Gaza circulated on social media, an Israeli soldier dressed in camouflage stands smiling with a machine gun in front of a bombed-out building. He directly addresses Netanyahu, who is widely known by his nickname “Bibi.”
“We are occupying, deporting and settling,” the soldier says. “Do you hear that, Bibi?”
For decades, Israeli soldiers have been deployed throughout the West Bank to protect existing settlements, which most of the world considers illegal under international law.
Leaders of the religious right, meanwhile, are using the war as an opportunity to push through extreme policies.
Ben-Gvir, the national security chief, leads the Jewish Power party and has helped arm thousands of Israeli civilians by relaxing restrictions on gun ownership. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionist Party, recently announced plans to expand settlements in the West Bank by more than 3,000 homes. Both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, who has been convicted of inciting racism and supporting terrorism, live in the West Bank.
