I get that country/state is a loose concept, but you have to draw the line somewhere.
The existence of foreign military bases and whether a political entity has committed war crimes are not typically considered in most accepted definitions of statehood. 85% of the countries on earth, literally a majority, recognize Israel. Going by for instance the criteria of the Montevideo Convention (permanent population, defined territory, government, capacity to have international relations) only the defined territory is debatable.
The thing with geopolitics is that international laws are more like guidelines. If a political entity can afford to exist through whatever means, and if it ticks most of the boxes of what we generally consider to be true of statehood, it is a country/state for all practical purposes.
I get that country/state is a loose concept, but you have to draw the line somewhere.
The existence of foreign military bases and whether a political entity has committed war crimes are not typically considered in most accepted definitions of statehood. 85% of the countries on earth, literally a majority, recognize Israel. Going by for instance the criteria of the Montevideo Convention (permanent population, defined territory, government, capacity to have international relations) only the defined territory is debatable.
The thing with geopolitics is that international laws are more like guidelines. If a political entity can afford to exist through whatever means, and if it ticks most of the boxes of what we generally consider to be true of statehood, it is a country/state for all practical purposes.