Netanyahu ruled out any chances for a post-war peace process, rejecting a sovereign Palestinian state on any part of historic Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his rejection to the establishment of a Palestinian state on Thursday, stating that Israel will take control over “from the river to the sea,” according to the English translation of a televised statement he has made at a nationally broadcast news conference.
In the translated segment, provided by Israeli news channel i24NEWS, Netanyahu said, “In any other arrangement in the future, the state of Israel will be in control of all area from the river to the sea.”
Another translation claimed that Netanyahu referred to the “entire territory west of the Jordan River,” which essentially means the same thing.
Why all of a sudden, Washington, London, and their Western and Middle Eastern allies are keen on the two-state solution, in fact, any political solution to the Israeli occupation of Palestine 🇵🇸 #Gaza #Palestine #IsraelApartheid pic.twitter.com/7hJdY2JGYC
— Ramzy Baroud (@RamzyBaroud) January 19, 2024
Netanyahu’s comments at the press conference seemed to be a response to a US-led push for a Palestinian state, and for allowing the Palestinian Authority to play a part in the future of Gaza.
Netanyahu, however, ruled out any chances for a post-war peace process, rejecting a sovereign Palestinian state on any part of historic Palestine.
“Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River,” Netanyahu has reportedly said. His comments were a direct response to American requests for a political vision in the occupied Palestinian territories. “The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends,” he said.
US officials have intensified their calls for a two-state solution in recent days, with US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller saying that “there is no way to solve (Israel’s) long-term challenges to provide lasting security (…) without the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Netanyahu, however, is not the only Israeli official who dismissed the idea of the establishment of a Palestinian state.
On Saturday, Miki Zohar, Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports, said that Israel “will never allow the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
These statements were echoed by other members of the Israeli government.
In comments to Israeli news newspaper Maariv, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that “there is a broad consensus in Israel against a Palestinian state and the division of the land.”
Al-Jazeera also cited the Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as saying that he has always opposed the concept of a Palestinian State, which constitutes “an existential threat to Israel”.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
