Ever since Biblical times, people understood the real-estate value of the territories named Israel, Palestine, or Judea. “Israel”, especially Greater Israel, captures many of the world’s important trade routes going from East to West, and North to South. Greater Israel can potentially link together the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean, also the rivers Nile, Euphrates and Tigris, Jordan, and Litini, along with overland trade such as the Silk Road and modern energy trade (pipelines and railroads).
I argue that this geopolitical value is what makes the Israeli-Palestinian territories so contested. It’s why everyone from Europeans to Americans and Russians, and Chinese, Iranians, and Arabs is so interested in capturing that part of the world. And by all means necessary.
Below, I offer a crude (and likely wrong on points) but brief version of Western history seen from the perspective of this interest:
Yesterday
Bronze Age city states rule Judea (“Israel”)
Ancient Egyptians rule Judea
“Hebrew” Judeans ultimately come along, occupying the prime real estate for global trade, as in Genesis 15:18, “from the river of Egypt to... the river Euphrates”.
The surrounding Empires want the same thing: Persian, Greek, Babylonian (ruled by Jews?) etc. and wage war on Judea.
Moses comes up with the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, declaring themselves superior people, the Chosen Few who alone deserve to inhabit this land.
Stories of the Exodus (which likely never happened) are mythologized.
The Greeks counter with the New Testament, giving the supremacist Judeans their Messiah (Christ), whom they reject.
Greeks rule Judea for some time for trade with the East.
The Roman Empire runs off with Christianity and next dominates Judea for a while for trade with India.
The Roman Empire splits into East and West; Christianity splits into Western and Eastern by 1054 AD or so, Catholic and Orthodox, causing division.
Judeans meanwhile cleverly created or influenced Islam (founding documents have mysteriously disappeared), and used it to overthrow their rivals, supporting Ottomans against Greece, and Arabs against the Persians etc.
Ottoman Turks rule Judea for some time, North Africa is Islamized along with Central Asian nations and ultimately Indonesia etc. — to capture global trade
Islam succeeded in its conquests of Mediterranean Europe: Southern Italy, Eastern Europe, Southern Spain etc. fall to the Muslims. Rome and Athens are captured.
European Christianity counters with the Holy Roman Empire and the Crusades to “liberate” (retake) Judea.
At least for a 1,000 years (800 AD - 1800 AD) the Germanic Christians rule or influence Judea, once temporarily called The Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Judeans start countering the Catholic Empire with Protestantism based on the Old Testament again.
The mercantilists convert North-West Europeans from Catholicism to their Jewish faith (Old Testament, Calvinism, Protestantism), starting/causing the Reformation.
Protestant nations such as The Netherlands and England break away from the Holy Roman Empire, later the Holy Roman Empire falls.
Western European nations discover the Americas and find ways around South Africa to circumvent the Islamic powers. Europeans start doing trade with Indo-China again.
The Protestant “Judeo-Christians” seize global trade over sea, ultimately also conquering the Middle East again.
The British Empire (Protestant) reigns supreme for a while.
Shit backfires: The Germans, now raised on the supremacism of the Old Testament instead of New Testament meekness, elect Hitler and seek to rule Judea again, among others.
The declining British Empire manages to cut Hitler off from the Middle East (Serbian railroad sabotage etc.).
After Hitler’s fall, the remnants of the British Empire installs Jews in Judea from 1948 onward, with the foundation of the state of Israel as per Theodore Herzl’s Zionism.
Today
Zionists are in charge of Israel and dream of Biblical Greater Israel.
Meanwhile, China backing Iran is looking to destroy Israel.
Turkey dreaming of another Ottoman Empire also wants Israel gone.
Russia having planted 1.5 million Russian speakers in Israel during the 1990s is dreaming of taking over, as well.
The Arabs’ awakening self-consciousness has their sights set on Judea as well.
The Americans ally with their Greatest Ally to try to protect their commercial interests (“let’s build hotels in Gaza”).
Europeans have no clue what to do.
Tomorrow
What possibilities lie ahead?
Russia seizes Judea, but Israel remains Jewish due to the Russian Jews’ presence. Zionism prevails, but different.
China alone seizes Judea, and forges an alliance with Israeli Jews instead of ousting them. Zionism prevails.
China/Iran seize Judea, and supplant most Jews with Arabs. Jews move to Ukraine. Zionism survives.
The Arabs seize Judea on their own (unlikely), with surviving Jews moving to Ukraine. Zionism survives.
Ottoman revivalists (Turkey) seizes Judea with Russian support, but Jews end up running the place. Zionism survives.
Europe, either backed by American Christians or on its own, counters all of the above with new Crusades and the foundation of a new Catholic Empire. Europe seizes Western Russia for resources and the Holy Roman Empire returns for another 1,000 years. Zionism dies.