Greater Israel and the Prospects for Peace

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Darrell Castle talks about Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and his project for Greater Israel. What is the concept of Greater Israel and how does it relate to the Israeli destruction of Gaza? Is this retaliation, self defense or is there more to it than that?

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GREATER ISRAEL AND THE PROSPECTS FOR PEACE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 22^nd day of August in the year of our Lord 2025. I will be talking about Israel, about Bibi Netanyahu and his project for a Greater Israel. Is he really working to expand Israel’s borders across the Middle East or is it simply self-defense. Is the Israeli destruction of Gaza retaliation and protection from terrorists or is there more to it than that.

There are many things I could be talking about right now such as the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska followed by Trump’s “summoning” Zelensky to Washington, followed by Giorgia Meloni’s recognition of Europe being left out of the deal. She quickly called Europe’s leaders and suggested they accompany Zelensky to Washington to plead their case before the real leader of the world. Ms. Meloni appears to be the upcoming star in Europe but instead of those subjects I turn my attention back to the Middle East, which is the center of much of the world’s trouble right now.

I will confess that I never believed the rumors of the Project for Greater Israel and thought it was just that, rumors, until now. What changed my mind well, it was just paying attention and following the actions and words of the leader of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu who has now confirmed for us and the whole of the Middle East that he is, in fact, on course for a Greater Israel.

He did an interview with an Israeli television channel about a week ago and in that interview he stated unequivocally that he was committed to the concept of a Greater Israel and that he believes that his expansionist policies and dreams are a biblical project. In other words, to paraphrase Ghostbusters, he is on a mission from God. I must say that in response to his words and actions that he views the nature of God differently from my view. He said that the project is a generational thing passed on from leader to leader but in the past leaders have missed opportunities and made mistakes which he is endeavoring to correct.

He did not state specifically what countries or territories would be included in Greater Israel, but it is clear that it goes way beyond historical Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank. He has already destroyed many of the surrounding countries to the point that they hardly have governments anymore. Think of Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, and also Yemen which has a government apparently run by terrorists.

Which country is left and which country is often referred to as the head of the snake. I guess that means that from Iran spews all the venom that is financing supplying and encouraging terrorism across the region. The snake’s head must be severed from its body and he has an ongoing project to do just that. Let me get into a little of what seems to be going on in Iran right now. This week Israel continued its war against Iran by conducting airstrikes across the country. Fires burned across Tehran and around the country including a gigantic explosion and fire at an oil storage depot.

Israel then, has reduced and is in the process of destroying not just Iran’s capacity to make war, but its capacity to live and feed its people. The conditions inside Iran right now appear to be terrible and not just from Israeli attacks but because Iran is suffering from an extreme drought and water crises. There has been a decline in rainfall, granted, but also decades of mismanagement of water resources and crumbling infrastructure from war and neglect. Sometimes the priorities of our leaders are not the same as ours and the priority for the last 46 years in Iran has been the development of nuclear weapons, and the funding of terrorist proxies across the region.

If you can’t make money out of thin air as we can in America, then it is difficult to pay for everything and choices have to be made. The decision to neglect water resources is bordering on catastrophic for the Iranians. Rationing power is one thing but for a nation of 90 million with a very large capital city it really would be catastrophic to ration water. Right now, about 2000 villages receive water only by tanker and the President, not the Ayatollah but the President, is warning of an “unimaginable situation.”

The crisis is apparently at a very critical level with millions at risk. Rainfall has declined about 46% this year but you may notice that I attribute most of the empty reservoirs and crumbling water infrastructure to war and most of all neglect and mismanagement while most reports attribute it to climate change. To me that makes no sense at all because it’s as if climate change only affects one country in the region while sparing the others. No, it’s the Ayatollah, nuclear ambitions, along with Israel that is keeping the Iranians thirsty.

Mr. Netanyahu is not without sympathy for the Iranians, however because immediately after the recent attacks he went on video and sent them a message. The Israeli attacks came right after the Iranian President, a mister Masoud Pezeshkian, made his unimaginable situation statement to the nation. I will paraphrase Mr. Netanyahu’s statement as best I can because although I watched the video I do not have a transcript.

He told them that this war isn’t necessary and more importantly their water crisis isn’t necessary and could be resolved very quickly. Israel would help them and could resolve the problem as soon as the “tyrants” are out of power. So, I suppose, that means changing your government to one favorable to Israel and we will help you. So, what kind of help could Israel provide to the head of the snake if the head were severed. He told them and the whole world during his speech.

“The thirst for water in Iran is only matched by the thirst for freedom.” He compared the Iranian regime’s treatment of its citizens to his struggle against it. “Your dictators impose tyranny and poverty upon you—just as they impose war on us.” He then gave them a clear incentive to change their government by whatever means necessary. “So here is the great news. The moment your country is free, Israel’s top water experts will flood into every Iranian city bringing cutting edge technology and know-how. We will help Iran recycle water; we’ll help Iran desalinate water.” So, a policy for the Iranian people wrapped in a humanitarian package.

Time and space require me to leave Iran for the remainder of this report so I can continue to make my case for Greater Israel. There are many examples other than Israeli experts pouring into every town and village in Iran. Once again, I ask in regard to Gaza is, it self-defense and retaliation or is there more to it and once again the Israeli leadership answers the question for us. A week ago, last Thursday Israeli Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu responding to a question from the press about the destruction of Gaza said.

 “The government is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out. Thank God we are wiping out this evil. We are pushing this population that has been educated on “Mein Kampf.” Gaza will be cleared for Jewish settlement and Jewish towns won’t be fenced inside cantons. All Gaza will be Jewish although Arabs loyal to Israel will be tolerated. We aren’t racists. We are fighting those who fight us.” He went on to say there is no hunger in Gaza but we don’t need to worry about hunger in the strip, let the world worry about it.

Many people think that mentioning the things that Israel appears to be doing is hurting Israel and its cause against its hostile enemies but to me it is their behavior that is hurting them in the press. Support for Israel, its standing in the world, and especially for Netanyahu are plummeting across the world as more and more information comes to light. If the Israeli government is committing atrocities on a mass scale in Gaza and you love Israel you should be alarmed and concerned about Israeli policies as I am. I am afraid that if Israel doesn’t reverse course soon the world will see it as a nation of barbarians.

If that were all it would be plenty but folks, as usual it gets worse. Recently one of those famous hot mic incidents occurred or at least the audio from the statement leaked to the press. The statement came from IDF Major General Aharon Haliva, the former head of Israeli military intelligence and a man seen by the press as a centrist and critic of the current Israeli government.

“For everything that happened on October 7, for every one person on October 7, 50 Palestinians must die. It doesn’t matter now if they are children. The fact that there are already 50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations.”

That statement says many things combined in a few brief words. Number one, it’s an admission that there are at least 50’000 dead in Gaza and many of them are children. The death reports are apparently not fake or exaggerated. The IDF is not in Gaza just to go after Hamas and those civilians are more than collateral damage. Netanyahu lies when he denies the death count and furthermore it makes no difference if the dead are children. The man who speaks for the IDF and the Israeli government wants blood and children and women or men are simply irrelevant. The intentional killing of innocents is not a crime or even a tragedy to him it is necessary and it must happen.

If the killing of 1200 civilians was an act of terrorism and it was, then what is the killing of 50,000. One must ask who is the greater terrorist. It might be possible to save Israel’s reputation who knows for sure, but to do so Israel must change course and right away. The United States, it seems to me has a moral obligation in this struggle as well. After all the United States supplies at least 69% of the Israeli weapons.

Finally, folks, does God through a command in the bible require the United States of America to send billions in money and weapons to Israel to be used to slaughter children in Gaza. Again, I’m no theologian but does the passage in the bible that warns believers to bless Israel refer to the Netanyahu government of today no matter what that government does or is it referring to the people of God in general. We have to decide that question and whether we care one way or the other. I suggest we do that right away.

At least that’s the way I see it,

Until next time folks,

This is Darrell Castle,

Thanks for listening.