"Our very existence?" I am not going to comment on this topic, other than to paste an article from the Jerusalem Post several weeks before the state of Israel was attacked on 7 October 2023. In full. No edits: SEPTEMBER 22, 2023 21:44 Updated: SEPTEMBER 23, 2023 00:43 Prime Minister Netanyahu is under fire on social media for holding up a map at the United Nations General Assembly plenum on Friday that placed the West Bank and Gaza within the boundaries of sovereign Israel. “No greater insult to every foundational principle of the UN than seeing Netanyahu display before the UNGA a “map of Israel” that straddles the entire land from the river to the sea,” the Palestinian Authority’s representative to Germany Laith Arafeh posted on X, formerly Twitter. With this map Netanyahu negates “Palestine and its people” while “attempting to spin the audience with rhetoric about “peace” in the region, all the while entrenching the longest ongoing belligerent occupation in today’s world,” Arafeh said. Israel approves 22 West Bank settlements amid war with Hamas, pressure for Palestinian state “But as H.E. President Mahmoud Abbas already responded yesterday: “Delusional are those who think peace in the region is possible without the realization of the full legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” he added. Netanyahu held up two maps at the UN during his speech. The first was intended to represent the geography of 1948, showing how Israel was alone in the Middle East and had no allies. Israel was highlighted in green for effect. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City, US, September 22, 2023 (credit: REUTERS/BRENDAN MCDERMID) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City, US, September 22, 2023 (credit: REUTERS/BRENDAN MCDERMID) Netanyahu unveils 'new Middle East,' but without Palestinians The second map, which portrayed the year 2023 had seven countries in Green, including Israel and Saudi Arabia. It was meant to illustrate how Israel now had friends in the region and how a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia would expand that. But the map that Netanyahu used, includes all the territory the Palestinians believe should be part of the borders of their future state. This includes the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The latter is under Israeli sovereignty, but the West Bank is outside those sovereign borders. It is divided into three sections Areas A and B which is under the governmental auspices of the Palestinian Authority and Area C, which is under IDF military and civilian rule. The Israeli Right including members of Netanyahu’s government wants to annex Area C. Israel had agreed to suspend annexation plans in exchange for the Abraham Accords. Netanyahu used the map to illustrate a new era of peace in the Middle East that would include the Palestinians, but his critics said the map sent the opposite message. Americans for Peace Now CEO Hadar Susskind posted on X that “Netanyahu is returning to his government of fascists, felons, and fundamentalists, which in both action and words contradicts his bogus rhetoric of peace.” I am only reproducing this article, above. I do not for one second suggest that the existential threat that Israel issued to Palestine as outlined in this article warranted violence, let alone the killing of hundreds of Israelis.