JERUSALEM – Israel’s parliament – the Knesset – voted overwhelmingly Thursday to reject the notion of establishing a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. The vote was 68 in support of a statement nixing the idea, and nine against.
National Unity Party Member of Knesset Ze’ev Elkin – a former housing and construction minister – sponsored the vote, with support from Yisrael Beytenu – which former defense minister Avigdor Lieberman leads – and The Land of Israel lobby, which has members from across the spectrum, such as Likud, Shas.
The text of the vote read, “The Knesset of Israel is firmly opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel would constitute an existential threat to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and undermine regional stability.
“It would only be a short matter of time before Hamas takes over the Palestinian state and turns it into a base of radical Islamic terrorism, coordinated with the Iran-led axis, to annihilate the State of Israel. Promoting the idea of a Palestinian state would reward terrorism and only encourage Hamas and its supporters, who would see it as a victory due to the October 7 massacre and a prelude to a jihadist Islamic takeover of the Middle East.”
Lawmakers from Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s center-left Yesh Atid party left the plenum to avoid backing the measure, even though he personally has spoken in favor of a two-state solution. The only ones to back the resolution were parliamentarians from the Labor, Ra’am and Hadash-Ta’al parties – the latter two of which are Arab factions.
Gideon Sa’ar MK, a former protege of Israel’s current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and who was once seen in the Likud Party as a potential successor, leads the National Unity Party. Some commentators have viewed the vote as a challenge to the prime minister – who was not in the parliamentary chamber for the ballot – from his political right; and as a potential challenge before his much-vaunted address at the U.S. Congress.
The message of the text is not only at odds with – but seemingly provokes direct confrontation with both the Biden administration and large swathes of the Democratic Party, which are wedded to the idea of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The administration’s Israeli critics argue its policy toward Israel and Palestine is not based on facts on the ground, and is the result of deep confusion in the realm of foreign affairs.
An increasingly fractious Democratic Party, including many members who are fearful for their immediate political futures with a clearly ailing Joe Biden still currently at the top of the ticket, is torn on Netanyahu’s imminent appearance in the Congress. While some of its members plan to attend Netanyahu’s address out of loyalty to the long-standing U.S.-Israel relationship, a growing number of their more radical colleagues have said they will not attend, in protest of Israel’s conduct during the nine-month long war with Hamas.
Meanwhile, the Hostages Families Forum has urged Netanyahu – who is due to fly to the U.S. Thursday – to seal a deal for the release of their kidnapped family members, still languishing in Hamas captivity in Gaza. Former hostages will appeal to the prime minister in a special statement. It follows Netanyahu’s controversial – and what the hostage families explained were deeply painful remarks – about the hostages saying they “were suffering but not dying.” The survivors will testify Thursday evening that each day in captivity could turn the hostages’ suffering into death. Since the last deal, at least 13 hostages have been killed in captivity.
In February, Netanyahu sponsored a Knesset resolution that rejected the unilateral imposition of a Palestinian state as there were other nations pushing for international recognition. These included Norway – whose foreign minister Espen Barth Eide was this week barred from entering Israel on the back of his government’s support for attempting to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state and for his government’s failure to declare Hamas a terrorist organization.
This latest vote is not the same as the February resolution, as it rejects entirely the proposition of the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria.
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