As U.S. President Barack Obama struggles to hold back the Likudnik/Neocon pro-war lobby that holds both the Democratic and Republican parties hostage through its influence over the military-industrial-financial establishment and the media, this post reproduces (on Page 2 of the post) an early (1982) Israeli document that takes positions that are now the main planks of the Amercian Likudnik/Neocon strategy.

The document advocates: (1) ethnic cleansing, to facilitate territorial expansion without absorbing large populations; and (2) “balkanising” (or, as this paper puts it, “Lebanonising”) and de-stabilising militarily consequential (or even potentially consequential) neighbours, along ethnic and confessional lines, in order both (i) to cut off support to populations of occupied territories (targeted for expulsion, or killing), and (ii) to eliminate potential military rivals. Historically, the United States has co-operated with Israel (and courted India) in pursuit of numerous common objectives, but has opposed (in principle) their hegemonic ambitions and de-stabilisation plans. Since “9/11” however the U.S. has adopted the “balkanise/de-stabilise all potential rivals” strategy on a global scale, while making common cause with regional hegemons (Israel, and increasingly, India).

It is remarkable how prescient, in retrospect, Oded Yinon’s article (reproduced below) looks today; not only in comparison with the leading neocon tracts that have emerged, and prevailed with increasing force, since then in America, but also with the narratives and actions of the United States. (The only difference is to substitute ‘Muslims’ and Islam’ for the ‘Soviets’ and ‘Communism’ mentioned in the article.)

The article is available from multiple sources on the Internet. The version posted here is from the Association of Arab-American University Graduates, Inc., Belmont, Massachusetts, 1982. The text posted below (on Page 2) is preceded by:

1. a Publisher’s Note, by Khalil Nakhleh, which is reproduced here on Page 3, after the main article.  The entire source document is titled The Zionist Plan for the Middle East, under which there is a map, followed by annotations, which are also reproduced on Page 3 of this post; and
2. a Foreword by the translator, Israel Shahak, with follows immediately below.

Foreword
(by the translator, Israel Shahak)

The following essay represents, in my opinion, the accurate and detailed plan of the present Zionist regime (of Sharon and Eitan) for the Middle East which is based on the division of the whole area into small states, and the dissolution of all the existing Arab states. I will comment on the military aspect of this plan in a concluding note. Here I want to draw the attention of the readers to several important points:

1. The idea that all the Arab states should be broken down, by Israel, into small units, occurs again and again in Israeli strategic thinking. For example, Ze’ev Schiff, the military correspondent of Ha’aretz (and probably the most knowledgeable in Israel, on this topic) writes about the “best” that can happen for Israeli interests in Iraq: “The dissolution of Iraq into a Shi’ite state, a Sunni state and the separation of the Kurdish part” (Ha’aretz 6/2/1982). Actually, this aspect of the plan is very old.
2. The strong connection with Neo-Conservative thought in the USA is very prominent, especially in the author’s notes. But, while lip service is paid to the idea of the “defense of the West” from Soviet power, the real aim of the author, and of the present Israeli establishment is clear: To make an Imperial Israel into a world power. In other words, the aim of Sharon is to deceive the Americans after he has deceived all the rest.
3. It is obvious that much of the relevant data, both in the notes and in the text, is garbled or omitted, such as the financial help of the U.S. to Israel. Much of it is pure fantasy. But, the plan is not to be regarded as not influential, or as not capable of realization for a short time. The plan follows faithfully the geopolitical ideas current in Germany of 1890-1933, which were swallowed whole by Hitler and the Nazi movement, and determined their aims for East Europe. Those aims, especially the division of the existing states, were carried out in 1939-1941, and only an alliance on the global scale prevented their consolidation for a period of time.

The notes by the author follow the text. To avoid confusion, I did not add any notes of my own, but have put the substance of them into this foreward and the conclusion at the end. I have, however, emphasized some portions of the text [these emphases have been removed in this post].

Israel Shahak
June 13, 1982