Ze'ev Jabotinsky

Ze'ev Jabotinsky (on the 1979 100 shekelim banknote, P-49) in his book Iron Wall said Zionism could proceed only behind an “iron wall” of force, and only after that, Zionists might grant civil rights and limited autonomy to Palestinians—under the control of a Jewish state, of course

David Ben-Gurion

David Ben-Gurion translated these ideas into a tactical strategy in the 1930’s—telling the outside world that partition would be useful, but in reality, planning territorial conquest, ethnic cleansing, and replacement of the original population with settlers. He oversaw the Haganah who had collected the “village files” which catalogued Palestinian villages and their access routes, prominent families, local elites, and religious leadership, (e.g. imams). These wound up being operational tools to systematically target the villages to depopulate, which people (at a minimum) to exterminate in order to efficiently dismantle Palestinian social structure.

The Fisherman: "We've Always Been Here in This Land"

Series II of the Israeli pound (lira), "Walks of Life" featured idealized figures—farmers, laborers, and notably fishermen. These images were not neutral. They constructed a visual narrative: a people organically tied to the land—working it, harvesting from it, living from it. A fisherman, in particular, signals permanence: coastal livelihood, generational continuity, rootedness—“we belong here, we have always belonged here.” 

This contrasted remarkably with the reality of 1948: the new state was overwhelmingly composed of immigrants from Europe and the Middle East, many having arrived in the 1920s–1930s, alongside one-third to nearly half who had arrived in the three short years since the end of World War II and the Holocaust in 1945. The fishermen image, the permanence, the belonging was one piece of pure nation-building mythology, alongside invented "folk songs", the focus on (only) the Jewish history of Palestine, the choice of Hebrew instead of Yiddish or German. The effort was greatly successful and is easily recognizable as part of the Israeli identity today.

Greater Israel - promised by Yahweh in 1743 B.C.E.

The concept of Greater Israel — Eretz Yisrael HaShlema — encompassing lands that some traditions claim that war and storm god Yahweh promised to Israel in 1743 B.C.E.: all of historic Palestine including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, plus Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, parts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Iraq - all to be ruled over by one socio-religious group only, regardless of who lives there now. It has been a fringe position for most of Israel's history, i.e. since 1948.  But as of 2026, Israel is bombing Hezbollah targets but also civilian infrastructure, housing and journalists in southern Lebanon, having ordered all residents south of the Litani River to evacuate. More than a million people have been displaced. In March 2026, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated publicly: “The new Israeli border must be the Litani.”  Defence Minister Israel Katz had earlier warned Lebanon could face “loss of territory.” The Drang nach a Greater Israel has picked up steam again, and Middle East civilians are once again feeling the consequences.