Given the opportunity, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others of his ilk would like to keep the whole of the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem and steadily build a Jewish majority there.

But that cannot happen easily as they will be the targets of global condemnation with perhaps only the United States and some of its allies looking the other way. Yet the Zionists are bound to try such capers in the coming years to grab precious Palestinian land, little by little.

An example of Israel land grab policy is the proposal by a panel, headed by a former justice of the Israeli Supreme Court, to grant legal status to a number of settler outposts in the West Bank.

This view is a direct challenge to global opinion that the West Bank is Israeli occupied territory to be vacated when the free state of Palestine takes shape on it. Israel’s land grab policy was again evident in a move made three months ago to retroactively legalise three West Bank settlements built without official sanction.

There is no ambiguity about the status of the occupied territories. The entire world recognises these lands as Palestinian territory over which Israel has no rights. Yet blatantly disregarding global opinion, Israel has gone ahead and built settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Not too long ago, the UN Security Council tried to pass a resolution condemning the settlement building that was stymied by an American veto. Even the International Court of Justice has ruled that all settlements are illegal as they were built on occupied territory. Against such a background, the Israeli panel’s views can be termed wholly unjust and immoral.

Israel’s condemnable moves clearly show that the Middle East conflict is light years away from a solution. There is little doubt that the Palestinians will never agree to a state comprising bits and pieces of improperly connected land, which may be what Netanyahu and other hawks have in mind.

The Palestinians want a viable state in which they can live with self respect and dignity. And to realise their dream of an independent country, they have sacrificed a lot over the years. Anyone having any thought that they will make compromises over land for freedom is in for a big disappointment. Netanyahu should realise this fact and desist from trying any kind of shenanigans that will frustrate the Palestinians even further.

That Israel is thirsting for security is not a big secret. But it will never feel secure as long as the Palestinians remain fettered.

Israel will have true security only when the Palestinians are free on their own land without the Zionists playing any kind of mischief. Netanyahu and his protectors in the West must understand this truth and act rationally.