Before the UN vote, Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to any Palestinian state
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several of his ministers reiterated their rejection of a Palestinian state, ahead of a vote scheduled for Monday at the UN Security Council on a draft American resolution on Gaza, which raises the possibility of such a state in the future.
Unlike previous versions, the new draft resolution, which supports Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, warns of the possibility of a future Palestinian state, which the Israeli government has long strongly opposed.
“Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any region has not changed”said the Israeli Prime Minister on Sunday, while opening the council of ministers. He emphasized that he did not need this “people’s lesson”.
Right-wing minister Bezalel Smotrich accused him late Saturday of defending the policy “silence” since the recognition of the State of Palestine by France and several other countries in September. “Immediately formulate an appropriate and firm response that will make things clear (Israeli position) to the whole world: there will never be a Palestinian state in our homeland”Mr. Smotrich wrote in X.
Another right-wing figure in the government, Itamar Ben Gvir, stated on social media that his party, Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish power”), would not be part of the government. “from no government willing to accept” establishment of a Palestinian state.
The Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz and Gideon Saar, also emphasized their rejection of any Palestinian state.
The American draft resolution supporting Donald Trump’s plan led to the implementation of a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, on October 10, after two years of war.
The text, seen by Agence France-Presse, specifically authorizes the deployment of a “international stabilizing force” (ISF) in the Palestinian territories, and plans to give a mandate until the end of December 2027 to a “peace committee”which should be led by Donald Trump, to manage it temporarily.
