Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that the presence of a strong Palestinian authority is in Israel’s security interest, warning of an explosion in the situation in the West Bank as a result of the continued prevention of entry of Palestinian workers into Israel and the continued prevention of the transfer of Palestinian clearing funds since last October 7.
Gallant said that delaying the resolution of these two issues may harm the achievement of the war’s goals, noting – in another context following a meeting he held today to assess the situation in the West Bank – that “the Israeli army will not stop its war until it defeats Hamas and wins this war.”
These statements by Gallant come within the context of the discrepancies and disagreements within the government in Israel, as his position on the Palestinian Authority is the opposite of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeats and insists on.
Netanyahu had said that Israel was ready to fight the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in the West Bank, stressing that the Gaza Strip would remain under Israeli security control after the war.
Netanyahu added – according to statements leaked by Israeli media about him to the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in the Knesset – that Israel is ready for a scenario in which it turns the barrels of rifles and directs them towards the authority forces.
The Palestinian presidency denounced Netanyahu’s statements about his far-right government’s readiness for the possibility of waging war against the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank, and considered them evidence of his intention to ignite the West Bank.
Netanyahu has repeatedly announced his rejection of the Oslo Accords, which led to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and parts of the West Bank in 1994.