Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that 80% of the Palestinians in the West Bank support what happened on October 7, and they should not be given the right to a Palestinian state.
Addressing the countries that recognized Palestine, Netanyahu added that the Palestinian state will be a “terrorist state” and will carry out the events of October 7 against Israel again.
He said that the Palestinian state is a prize for terrorism and will not bring peace, stressing that his government will not agree to that and will continue the war in the Gaza Strip and eliminate Hamas.
This came in a video speech he broadcast on his account on the “X” platform.
On the other hand, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Netanyahu to express his readiness to accept a Palestinian state in the future “under certain conditions and specific guarantees,” adding that his government’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, prevents him from doing so.
This came in a speech delivered by Lapid during an economic conference organized by the “Israeli Democracy Institute” (non-governmental), according to the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
In his speech, Lapid said that Netanyahu must say that under certain conditions and with specific guarantees, he is ready to accept in the distant future a Palestinian state that cooperates in the war on terrorism.
Lapid did not clarify what he meant by those conditions and guarantees, nor did he provide details regarding the nature of the cooperation required of this country, which he mentioned in his statements, but Israel usually describes as “terrorism” the Palestinian factions’ resistance to it as an occupying party.
Dismissal of the government
Lapid went on to say that the extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir does not allow Netanyahu to declare his readiness to accept a Palestinian state, considering that “this is the madness we are living in.”
He continued that this willingness to accept a Palestinian state will not happen with this government, adding that it must be dismissed, a moderate and effective centrist government must be formed, and urgent elections must be held.
Since late 2022, Israel has been ruled by a far-right government led by Netanyahu, head of the Likud Party, which categorically rejects even talk about establishing a Palestinian state.
Earlier Wednesday, Ireland, Spain and Norway announced the recognition of an independent Palestinian state, with their decision to enter into force on May 28.
A number of ministers of this government, including Ben Gvir, call for encouraging the forced displacement of the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, the construction of Jewish settlements there, and the intensification of settlement on Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank.
The move by Norway, Spain and Ireland to officially recognize the State of Palestine comes within a Western trend that sees this as a means to strengthen the peace process in the Middle East in light of the right-wing government in Israel that rejects the two-state solution.