There are terrifying present-day echoes of the circumstances that led to the catastrophe of 1948.

Ever since Israel’s current government took office at the end of 2022, much ink has been spilled over its extremism and the political crisis that that extremism has sparked. The government’s moves to expand its power over the judiciary have been met with some of the biggest protests in the country’s history, with protesters claiming that the state’s very character is under threat.

In fact, the current dangers go far beyond questions of constitutional probity, particularly regarding the key issue the protests seem determined to avoid: Palestine.

Despite important differences, current conditions in Israel-Palestine show some alarming parallels with the run-up to 1948, when around three-quarters of the Palestinian population was expelled in the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”). With senior figures in the Israeli cabinet now openly calling for further Palestinian expulsions, it is worth examining these parallels in more detail.