Netanyahu Faces Backlash for Map Excluding West Bank in Controversial Briefing

In one of the briefings, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a map that did not include the occupied West Bank. The map in the background of Netanyahu depicted the territories Israel wanted to annex, including the West Bank, although the latter has been blotted out. This created a furor of anger among the Palestinian leadership and others.

The Palestinian foreign ministry rushed to condemn the use of the map, describing it as a direct confession of Israel’s colonial and racist policy. ‘It pointed out that the use of maps is a gross violation of international law, especially at the time Israel escalates its aggression against Palestinians, seeking to wipe them off the map and deny their rightful national aspirations.

This comes after July 2024’s advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where the court characterised Israel’s long occupation of Palestinian territories as “unlawful” and referred to the separation of people in the occupied West Bank as violating international laws that pertain to ‘racial differentiation’, ‘apartheid’.

Netanyahu’s bluff has been countered by the international community, with the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, citing Netanyahu as an anti-Palestinian racist, primarily aiming at erasing the Palestinian people from the face of the earth and taking over ALL of their lands. Zomlot said this was ironic, pointing to ‘Palestinian politician v Libya’ and wondered what the international community would do if a politician from Palestine brought change in the same manner.

Erasing the West Bank is part of the same genocide as Gaza, a complete elimination of Palestinians with American fingerprints all over it. As is the case with Gaza, there is little to no coverage of Netanyahu’s actions in the West and no criticism from Western leaders or media.

Another activist to register concerns was the feminist grassroots organisation Code Pink, which accused Israel of planning to destroy all of Palestine and force Palestinians into Gaza, which, they said, was a ‘shrinking concentration camp’.

Algerian FC, the national football association of Algeria, also joined in to comment on their statement and further said that Netanyahu’s map proves Israel’s intention of eradicating Palestine from the surface of the earth, particularly with the current attacks on the Gaza strip.

The journalist Rania Abouzeid added that Netanyahu has grown fond of utilising maps that efface Palestinian territories and has been a “villainous opponent” of the Palestinian state.

Netanyahu’s use of map has also thrown light on the general ideological mnemonic of ultra-nationalist Zionism, Eretz Yisrael or Greater Israel. This ideology is premised on the belief that all the territories of the world, including the Palestinian territories, are for a Zionist state.

The statement and measures taken by Netanyahu have fuelled more fears of oppression of the Palestinians and their erasure from Israeli existence – this has worsened the Israeli standing in the international community and has continued to fan the agitation in the region.