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Maps, Patches, and Symbols

Ideas about borders travel as pictures. You do not need to read a party platform to understand a map. This page collects the maps and symbols of Greater Israel that have appeared since 2023: on a minister's podium in Paris, in the prime minister's hands at the United Nations, on the shoulders of Israeli soldiers in Gaza, on the door of Israel's UN ambassador, on the walls of kindergartens, and on police cars. Each is small on its own. Together they show an idea that has moved from the fringe into the institutions of the state.

A word first. Eretz Yisrael HaShlema is Hebrew for "the Whole Land of Israel" or "the Complete Land of Israel," the usual Hebrew name for what English speakers call Greater Israel. Its narrow meaning is Israel plus the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan. Its widest meaning, drawn from Genesis 15:18, is everything from the Nile to the Euphrates. Some of the maps below show the first; some show the second.

The minister's podium, Paris 2023​

On 19 March 2023, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich spoke at an event in Paris from a podium draped with a map of "Greater Israel" that took in the Kingdom of Jordan. In the same speech he said "there's no such thing as the Palestinian people." Jordan summoned Israel's ambassador. Israel's Foreign Ministry restated its treaty with Jordan; Smotrich stayed in office. A photo of the podium posted in December 2023 was viewed about 3.2 million times (Censored Men on X, 21 December 2023). As one critic answered those who pointed to the walk-back: "Official walkbacks don't erase the act. A top minister chose a 'Greater Israel' map engulfing Jordan" (Rebel-Dog on X, 22 September 2026). Full story: Smotrich in Paris.

The prime minister's maps at the United Nations​

In September 2023 Benjamin Netanyahu held up a map titled "The New Middle East" at the UN General Assembly. Critics noted it showed all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean as Israel, with no West Bank or Gaza. At the General Assembly he also held up two maps, a "Map of Blessing" and a "Map of Curse," again drawing the West Bank and Gaza as part of Israel, as the fact-check site Misbar noted; the "curse" map marked Iran and its allies. In September 2024, according to the Serbian weekly Vreme, a Netanyahu "day after" map showed the West Bank completely annexed. See Netanyahu's Maps at the United Nations.

Patches on soldiers' uniforms​

Since 2024, photographs have shown Israeli soldiers in Gaza wearing unofficial patches with a map of Greater Israel and the Hebrew words Eretz Yisrael HaShlema or "the Promised Land of Israel." One photo post in June 2024 was viewed about 1.45 million times (Motasem A Dalloul on X, 16 June 2024). Grok, describing one such patch in September 2026, said the map "matches common depictions of biblical claims (Genesis 15:18) from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates." The army says it bans unauthorized insignia and ordered removals in October 2024; the photographs kept appearing. The Gaza-born writer Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a critic of Hamas, wrote in August 2025: "Patches depicting greater Israel have been observed on some Israeli soldiers fighting in Gaza, stationed in the West Bank, not to mention large parts of the violent settler enterprise." See Greater Israel Patches on Soldiers' Uniforms.

The map at home​

The whole-land map has entered Israeli institutions:

  • Israel's UN ambassador. On his last day as ambassador to the UN in August 2024, Gilad Erdan fixed a mezuzah "in the shape of the complete Land of Israel" in the ambassador's office, "to remind everyone who comes here for a meeting that the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel, including Judea and Samaria" (Gilad Erdan on X, 19 August 2024, Hebrew; translation for this page).
  • Kindergartens. In July 2024 parents in the Tel Aviv suburb of Givatayim complained that a map of the "complete, united, and faith-based" Land of Israel had been hung in city kindergartens during summer camps (Or Kashti on X, 7 July 2024).
  • Police cars. In November 2025 an Israeli posted that Israel Police patrol cars carried a "complete Land of Israel" sticker (Gonen Ben Itzhak on X, 15 November 2025).
  • A minister's T-shirt. Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu shared a post promoting a shirt reading "Occupation Now" with a map including the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai, and the Golan, captioned "The people demand occupation—occupation now," according to Misbar.

See The Whole-Land Map at Home.

Maps that reach Lebanon​

In August 2026 Israel's Foreign Ministry posted a graphic that showed part of southern Lebanon inside Israel. After protests it deleted the image and called it "an artificial intelligence error" (The New Arab, 10 August 2026). In April 2026 users noticed that Apple Maps had dropped the names of villages and towns in southern Lebanon, which remained on Google Maps, while, in Outlook India's words, "Israel is actively trying to annex Southern Lebanon" (Outlook India on X, 13 April 2026). The Israeli army, by then, held a "security zone" up to the Litani River (see Lebanon and Syria Since 2024).

Why the pictures matter​

A government can deny a plan. It is harder to deny a map its finance minister chose to stand behind, one its prime minister held up at the United Nations, one its soldiers sewed on their sleeves, and one its UN ambassador nailed to his door. The pictures show what the officials are thinking about when they speak of "security." They also show what Arab governments see, which is why Jordan summoned Israel's ambassador over a podium cloth, and why 31 states protested a two-word answer about an amulet (see Netanyahu's "Very Much").

Evidence rating: CONFIRMED that Greater Israel maps and symbols have been displayed by a cabinet minister, the prime minister, the UN ambassador, and Israeli soldiers, and in public institutions.

Status: Bezalel Smotrich, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gilad Erdan, Amichai Eliyahu, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Motasem A Dalloul, Or Kashti, and Gonen Ben Itzhak are alive. Nothing on this page states that any living person committed a crime.

Sources​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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