The news network Al-Alam has published an editorial analyzing the strategic shift in Zionist political discourse from ‘From the Nile to the Euphrates’ to ‘From India to Cush.’ This shift not only reflects the expansion of Israel’s expansionist plans across the region but also indicates a fundamental transformation in its approach from territorial occupation to controlling global power networks, resources, and strategic routes.
Al-Alam highlights the new regional influence strategies of Israel, analyzing the roles of the United States, China, and India in this complex equation. It warns that this strategy could pose serious challenges to regional and global balance. Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the phrase ‘From India to Cush,’ which signifies not just a geographical shift but a strategic change in Israel’s perspective. This phrase connects India, a technological and defense power in East Asia, with Cush, or Ethiopia, a region rich in mineral and water resources in South Africa.
In this context, Israel positions itself as the connecting point and communication corridor within this network, indicating a shift from a state-centric approach to one focused on controlling global resource networks and nations. The realm of Cush symbolizes either a biblical dream or a threat to humanity. In biblical texts, Cush is not merely a peripheral territory but a symbolic and expansive space linked to the water resources and natural wealth of our planet.In the Book of Genesis, the Jewish people recognize Cush as part of the geography of their founding, while in the Book of Isaiah, it is described as a remote land connected by rivers and water resources. Thus, Cush is not just southern Africa, but the biblical borders for the biblical dream. Notably, Netanyahu’s recent use of the biblical name ‘Cush’ instead of its modern name, Ethiopia, reflects a shift from a political map to a ‘civilizational map,’ where geography is understood as a broad space transcending national borders.
It is crucial to note that in today’s geopolitical reading, Cush encompasses the water resources of the Nile, gold, and precious minerals, along with the features of the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea. This is particularly sensitive for Egypt, as the Nile is not only an economic resource but the backbone of the country’s existence. Any strategic Israeli influence or presence in the territory of Cush could indirectly affect Egypt’s water, energy, and demographic stability.
India, as a rising power in technology, defense, and artificial intelligence, is considered a new strategic partner for Israel. The combination of the terms India and Cush in Netanyahu’s recent statements creates a new focal point from technology-driven East Asia to resource-rich South Africa.Israel, in this context, presents itself as the connecting point and historical corridor between natural resources and technology. This phrase transforms from a geographical description to a strategic-symbolic narrative, illustrating a transition from a governance logic of limitations to a logic of controlling global resource networks. This expansion of influence cannot be understood outside the competition of great powers, as the Chinese have rewritten the global trade map with the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ for over a decade, focusing on ports and maritime routes in East Africa and the Red Sea.
China’s presence in Pakistan, Djibouti, and East African ports has made it a central player in the equation connecting Asia and Africa. In this context, India plays a significant role as a geopolitical rival to Beijing in South Asia, which enhances the importance of Israel’s expanding relations with India. When Israel aligns with India, it enters a broader balance equation against China’s expansion. Therefore, the phrase ‘From India to Cush’ is part of a global competition over routes and communication networks, rather than merely a change in Israel’s regional stance.The role of the United States in controlling global resource networks cannot be separated from its strategy to contain China and redistribute its responsibilities in the Middle East. Within this framework Israel as a center of advanced military technology and a connecting point between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf can integrate into a broader network of Indian-Emirati-Western alliances. Thus ‘From India to Cush’ should be interpreted as part of the American network for reshaping power balance in a multipolar world.
The biblical and evangelical perspectives on the term ‘Cush’ remind us of the fundamental difference between it and political discourse. The slogan ‘From the Nile to the Euphrates’ belonged to an era of territorial dominance and occupation while the new slogan ‘From India to Cush’ belongs to an era where control is measured by the management of political military and economic flows as well as data and information technology energy resources maritime routes artificial intelligence and water resources.
Indeed the biblical depth of the term ‘Cush’ in Israel’s new slogan has not only been retained but redefined to lend symbolic depth to contemporary projects. Cush is invoked not merely as a territory but as a name laden with historical and symbolic significance aimed at legitimizing the political discourse of the occupying regime and indicating that this expansion is not a temporary policy but a historical continuation.
