CLASSIFICATION: Historical Audit / Investigative Analysis

By Andrew Klein PhD

2^nd January 2026

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This forensic audit examines the foundational pillars of the State of Israel, not through the lens of its founding myths, but through the documented record of British imperial policy, Zionist strategy, and subsequent international patronage. The evidence reveals a coherent settler-colonial project: the deliberate importation of a European-derived population, the systematic dismantling of indigenous society, and the construction of a national narrative designed to obscure these facts. This report traces the architecture of this project from the British Mandate to contemporary international complicity.

1. THE BRITISH MANDATE: THE IMPERIAL ENABLER

The British occupation of Palestine (1917-1948) was not a neutral administration. The 1917 Balfour Declaration, pledging support for a “Jewish national home,” was written into the terms of the League of Nations Mandate, legally binding Britain to the Zionist project.

· Institutional Bias: The Mandate’s articles were “heavily stacked against Palestinians”. Seven articles were devoted to assisting Zionism, while Palestinians were denied recognition as a people with national rights. The Jewish Agency was granted quasi-governmental status and international diplomatic standing, a privilege never afforded to any Palestinian body.

· Facilitating Colonisation: Article 6 of the Mandate tasked Britain with “facilitating Jewish immigration and encouraging ‘close settlement by Jews on the land'”. The first High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, a committed Zionist, issued regulations making it easier for Zionist organisations to acquire vast tracts of land, leading to the forcible eviction of thousands of Palestinian peasants.

· Arming the Project: British authorities permitted the formation of the Haganah, the Zionist militia that became the core of the Israeli army, to “defend” the expanding settlements. This policy stood in stark contrast to the systematic disarming and suppression of Palestinian political and military organising.

Conclusion: The British Mandate acted as a “protected carapace” for Zionist colonisation, actively constructing the political, legal, and military infrastructure of a future state while deliberately preventing Palestinian self-determination.

2. LANGUAGE AS A WEAPON OF SEPARATION

The revival of Hebrew was a central pillar of Zionist nation-building, serving a clear political function: to create a unified national identity among diverse Jewish immigrants and to consciously separate the new settler society from the indigenous Arabic-speaking population.

· A Deliberate Revival: While Hebrew had liturgical use, its revival as a modern spoken language was the work of Zionist activists, most notably Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who was motivated by a desire to forge a “distinct Jewish nationality” in the context of Zionism.

· Rejection of Yiddish: The choice of Hebrew over Yiddish—the spoken language of most European Jews—was deliberate. Yiddish was associated with the diaspora and exile. Hebrew, linked to ancient biblical claims to the land, provided a more potent nationalist symbolism and severed the linguistic ties that might have facilitated communication with Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews already in Palestine or with European cultures.

· Official Sanction: The British Mandate authorities made Hebrew an official language, further institutionalising its use and marginalising Arabic in the emerging public sphere.

3. THE PHYSICAL ERASURE: THE NAKBA & BEYOND

The depopulation and destruction of Palestinian villages was not a byproduct of war but a documented policy, now widely recognised as the Nakba (Catastrophe).

· Scale of Destruction: During the 1947-1949 war, around 400 Palestinian Arab towns and villages were forcibly depopulated by Israeli forces, with a majority destroyed.

· Systematic Policy: This was a systematic operation. Villages were often destroyed after conquest to prevent the return of refugees. The demolitions continued for years; over 100 remaining locations were razed by the Israel Land Administration as late as 1965.

· Cultural Erasure: The physical erasure was accompanied by a cultural one. Depopulated villages were often repopulated with Jewish immigrants, and their Arabic place names were replaced with Hebrew ones. This dual process—physical demolition and nominal replacement—is a hallmark of settler-colonial projects aimed at supplanting one people with another.

4. THE MYTH-MAKING MACHINERY & INTERNATIONAL PATRONAGE

To sustain itself, the project required a supporting narrative adopted by Western powers.

· Founding Myths: A “grand narrative” was created that “lionized the settlers and demonized the Palestinian natives”. A key myth is that Israel was created as penance for the Holocaust. Historical analysis shows Zionist colonisation efforts began nearly a century before the Holocaust, motivated by colonial ideology, not post-war remorse.

· U.S. Role: The United States, as the successor to British regional hegemony, adopted and amplified this narrative. Israel was framed as a “fellow democracy” and a “start-up nation,” obscuring its colonial foundations and aligning its interests with American Cold War and later geopolitical strategy. This partnership transformed Israel into a “client state of the world’s imperialist hegemon”.

· Australian Complicity: The Australian case, particularly under Prime Minister Scott Morrison, exemplifies how this narrative is internalised and acted upon by client states. Morrison’s 2023 statement in Israel—that the world should not be “suckered into” supporting a Gaza ceasefire, calling it a “play from Hamas”—demonstrates a full-throated adoption of Israeli framing, prioritising that narrative over humanitarian imperatives or balanced diplomacy. This stance provides diplomatic and political “substance to the myth.”

CONCLUSION: THE BLUEPRINT EXPOSED

The evidence trail is clear and convergent. The State of Israel was established through a process of:

1. Imperial Patronage: British policy actively constructed the proto-state.

2. Demographic Engineering: Facilitated mass immigration while blocking the return of indigenous refugees.

3. Territorial Seizure: Systematically depopulated and destroyed hundreds of indigenous communities.

4. Cultural Construction: Forged a new national language and identity to separate settler from native.

5. Narrative Control: Cultivated a founding mythos adopted by Western powers to legitimise the project.

The ongoing conflict, the “open-air prison” of Gaza, and the repeated violations of international law are not aberrations but logical outcomes of this original blueprint. The refusal to abide by UN resolutions and the asymmetrical application of force are sustainable only because of the continued international patronage documented here.

To understand the present, one must audit the past. This is that audit.

APPENDIX: KEY SOURCES

British Mandate & Colonial Policy:

· Declassified UK: “How Britain supported Zionism and prevented Palestinian freedom” (2025).

· Wikipedia: “Mandatory Palestine” for foundational context.

Language & Identity:

· Wikipedia: “Modern Hebrew” for details on the language revival and Eliezer Ben-Yehuda’s role.

The Nakba & Village Destruction:

· Wikipedia: “List of towns and villages depopulated during the 1947–1949 Palestine war” for scale and data.

Myth-Making & Narrative:

· Decolonize Palestine: “Myth: Israel was created as penance for the Holocaust” for deconstruction of key narratives.

International Patronage – Australian Case Study:

· The Guardian: “Scott Morrison says world should not be ‘suckered into’ supporting Gaza ceasefire” (2023).

Further Research Avenues:

1. Detailed analysis of the 1948 Israeli military archives (e.g., Plan Dalet).

2. Audit of U.S. military and economic aid to Israel since 1948.

3. Mapping the network of pro-Israel lobbying groups in the U.S., UK, and Australia and their donor bases.