Israel, forcibly established on land overwhelmingly inhabited by Palestinian Arabs, pursued the goal of "Greater Israel" from the outset. The apparent inclination of Zionist leaders towards a Two-State solution was solely aimed at buying time and bolstering their military power. Zionists never denied that their ultimate goal was all of Palestinian territory.
The essence of Zionist policy is to obstruct the establishment of a Palestinian state at any cost. Despite the apparent support for a Two-State solution by the US and Western administrations, they have not taken any action to deter Zionist settlers or advance the Palestinian state.
The illegal settlements in the West Bank, declared as occupied territories under international law, are not solely the responsibility of the Netanyahu governments. All past Zionist governments played a role in expanding illegal settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The US and Western administrations have pursued hypocritical policies regarding illegal settlements as well. The two-faced policy pursued by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during Chile's military dictatorship era applies to Palestine as well. Kissinger played a significant role in the overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973. An article in the New York Times on June 9, 1976, reported that Kissinger warned General Pinochet, the dictator, that human rights violations would damage US-Chile relations. The article also mentioned warnings that the US Congress would cut off all military and economic aid to Chile if human rights corrections were not made. However, the reality was quite different from what the New York Times indicated.
According to documents released by the "US National Security Archive" in 2013, Kissinger told Dictator Pinochet, "As you know, we sympathize with what you are trying to do here as the United States. We want to help you, not hurt you. You did a great service to the West by overthrowing Allende." Thus, Kissinger advised Pinochet not to take public statements into account and to proceed as he saw fit.
The US-Israel policy goes far beyond this. Israel's list of crimes includes war crimes and acts of genocide. Regardless of its actions or crimes, unconditional support for Israel is an indispensable element of US foreign policy. The situation is not much different for Western governments. These states do not overtly approve of illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. Currently, there are around 700,000 Zionist settlers living in the West Bank. Could Israel have done this without the support of the US and the West?
Biden, following a policy similar to that of Kissinger, imposed sanctions on only a few of the thousands of Zionist settlers, estimated to be US citizens. The Netanyahu Cabinet is mocking these sanctions. Zionist settlers have been forcibly seizing the property of Palestinians living in the occupied territories for decades with donations from campaigns conducted in the US. Geneva Convention No. 4, which entered into force in 1950, prohibits the establishment of civilian settlements in occupied territories. Despite violating this convention thousands of times since 1967, Israel has not lost the support of the US and Western governments.
The Biden Administration waited for tens of thousands of innocent people to be killed in Gaza before talking about civilian rights. Despite this, Biden emphasizes that he does not consider conditioning military support to Israel. Despite warnings from relevant UN bodies, Israel continues to block food aid to Gazans. The US, the greatest supporter behind Israel, cannot ensure the entry of thousands of food trucks waiting at the Egyptian border into Gaza.
On the other hand, the US seems to be trying to do something about "illegal settlements," "temporary ceasefire," and "humanitarian aid." "There is a severe fire, they are pouring a glass of water to extinguish it. At the same time, they are providing gasoline to fuel the flames." This metaphor summarizes the US policy, as described by Professor Rashid Khalidi, a leading Middle East historian and author of the book "Palestine: One Hundred Years of War on Settlement Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017." There is no need for further explanation.
