Zionism is a political movement that arose in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Its’ goal was to create a majority-Jewish democratic nation-state in the area once belonging to the Jewish kingdoms of the Ancient Near East. It would attract all those Jews living under persecution in many different states. Later, Zionism split into Labor Zionism and Revisionist Zionism. Labor Zionism channeled Eastern European socialism. The Labor Party dominated the politics of Israel from 1948 to 1977. In terms of relations with the Palestinians, by the early 1970s Labor Zionism had come to favor giving up the Arab territories conquered in the 1967 war. Labor became the “peace party.” Revisionist Zionism developed later than did Labor Zionism. It insisted upon both the necessity for a strong military and the goal of taking territory on both sides of the Jordan River. The Likud Party is the political expression of Revisionist Zionism. It has dominated Israel’s politics since 1977. Later, Revisionism abandoned claims to the East Bank of the Jordan while maintaining the claim to the West Bank. Since 1967, the Arab presence in the West Bank has been much eroded, especially through Jewish settlements and military control.[1] Benjamin Netanyahu leads Likud.
In the judgement of the political scientist and Wall Street Journal columnist Walter Russell Mead, Benjamin Netanyahu is “a historic leader who has imposed his will on the great events of his time. Without approving all that he has done, Mead nevertheless sees “Bibi” as “a political genius who towers above his critics and rivals.”[2] Netanyahu is “unlike most of the mediocrities who hold office in countries around the world.”[3]
Since the Hamas attack in October 2023, Israel has been pounding Gaza into rubble. Netanyahu’s intention may be to make Gaza uninhabitable for a long stretch. This may force out the Palestinians.[4]
Now Israel has begun expanded operations in the West Bank.[5] In theory, these are directed only against pro-Hamas terrorists. Still, it is worth wondering if Netanyahu is beginning the same process on the West Bank that is nearing completion in Gaza.
This will be really awkward for the Democrats right now. The presidential election nears with Democratic supporters of Israel and of the Palestinians at daggers drawn. For the moment, the conflict is papered-over. A big new explosion in the West Bank could break this truce.
It will be much more awkward for the Palestinians. Under attack from Israel, they will have to choose between the Palestinian Authority, which hasn’t fought in a long while, and Hamas, which has shown itself ready to fight to the last Palestinian.
Then it is awkward for the United States. The Biden administration has failed to curtail Israel’s action in Gaza. Would it be able to contain the outrage generated by more pictures of buildings being leveled, bodies of children carried from the rubble, and families in flight? The gorge rises, even among those who recognize that at least half the blame falls on Hamas.
[1] See: Westbank_2010 (wikimedia.org)
[2] Walter Russell Mead, “Netanyahu’s Place in History,” WSJ, 27 August 2024.
[3] Mead’s columns over the last few years seem clear that he ranks Joe Biden among the mediocrities.
[4] Gazaedy. | waroftheworldblog
[5] Aaron Boxerman, Adam Rasgon, Raja Abdulrahim, and Thomas Fuller, “Israel Escalates Raids On West Bank Targets As Third Front Grows,” NYT, 29 August 2024.
waroftheworldblog 
Do the West Bank settlers represent any particular religious group or immigrants from any particular country or city.
Good question. There are 144 settlements in the West Bank and a dozen more in East Jerusalem. There are also about 100 “outposts” on the West Bank that ae not formally recognized by the government if Israel, but which still receive many kinds of support. At the moment, there are roughly 450,000 settlers in the West Bank and 220,000 settlers in East Jerusalem. At least 60,000 of them are American Israelis. Less than ten percent.
Why do they come? Common opinion seems to be that most are driven by ideology: either secular Revisionist Zionism or Orthodox Jewish “ultra”-nationalism. There is a certain common ground between the two. Revisionist Zionism had always hoped to expand the State of Israel to encompass the historical “Land of Israel.” For religious nationalists, God had given all this land to His people, so they should occupy it. The 1967 War gave both groups much of what they wanted in the West Bank. Then the almost-catastrophic 1973 “War of Atonement” drove home Israel’s strategic vulnerability. At its narrowest point, Israel is only about 10 miles wide. To have defensible frontiers, Israel needed more “strategic depth.” (Not meaning to say something tacky, but the same kind of analysis drove Prussian expansionism in the 18th and 19th Centuries.) So, no giving back the West Bank or the Golan Heights. (And probably somebody should give some thought to getting possession of southern Lebanon.) In short, “from the river to the sea, Zion should be free.”
In this light, the Palestinian Arabs are an obstacle to the full development of Israel. However, there have been two different attitudes within Israel. In addition to the expansionists, there has always been a peace party. Wars launched by the Arabs (1967, 1973, October 2023) seem to me to force a rallying around national defense. If I read the NYT aright, many of Netanyahu’s critics want the hostages back and think that he hasn’t prioritized them; but they don’t care much about the suffering of the people of Gaza (or the West Bank). Then, Israel’s population is almost 10 million and the population of the US is better than 330 million. So, 250 Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas are equivalent to almost 8,300 Americans. Think how that number would influence the current election.