Al-Jazeera / July 18, 2024
The resolution says the creation of a Palestinian state would pose an ‘existential danger’ to Israel.
Israel’s parliament has passed a resolution that overwhelmingly rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, Israeli media reported.
The resolution passed in the Knesset with 68 votes in favour and just nine against it early on Thursday.
It said that a Palestinian state would pose “an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition with far-right parties co-sponsored the resolution. Opposition leader Yair Lapid’s centre-left party left the session to avoid supporting the statement, despite previously saying he favoured a two-state solution, The Times of Israel newspaper reported.
Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, slammed the passing of the resolution.
“No Zionist party from both the government and the opposition voted against the resolution,” he wrote on X.
“This resolution represents a rejection of peace with Palestinians and an official declaration of the death of [the] Oslo agreement,” Barghouti posted.
The Oslo Accords, which were first signed between Palestinian and Israeli leaders in 1993, called for a viable and sovereign Palestinian state living side by side with an Israeli state.
But Israel has continued to adopt policies such as building illegal settlements on Palestinian lands across the occupied West Bank and a complete blockade of Gaza.
Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh condemned the resolution on social media, saying the Knesset’s rejection “confirms the racism of the occupying state and its disregard for international law and international legitimacy, and its insistence on the approach and policy of perpetuating the occupation forever”.
Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the resolution’s approval was a “dangerous” violation of international law.
“Israel’s continued efforts to deny the Palestinians’ inalienable right to their independent and sovereign state along the lines of June 4, 1967, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital, does not bring security and peace in the region,” read a statement citing the ministry’s spokesperson Sufyan al-Qudah.
The Times of Israel quoted the resolution as saying: “It will only be a matter of a short time until Hamas takes over the Palestinian state and turns it into a radical Islamic terror base, working in coordination with the Iranian-led axis to eliminate the State of Israel.”
It added that a Palestinian state at this time would be a “reward for terrorism and will only encourage Hamas and its supporters to see this as a victory”, referring to the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 in southern Israel that triggered the current conflict.
The decision, however, is not new for the Knesset which has previously rejected Palestinian statehood.
A growing number of countries have recognized Palestinian statehood, including Spain, Slovenia, Norway, Ireland and others.
The resolution comes as Netanyahu is expected to address the United States Congress next week in Washington, DC, which has caused divisions among Democratic Party lawmakers who have spoken out against Israel’s conduct in its war on Gaza.
On Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that Israel’s policy in the occupied West Bank was dooming any prospect of a two-state solution.
Through administrative and legal steps, Israel is changing the geography of the West Bank, Guterres said in a statement read by his chief of staff, Courtenay Rattray, during a meeting of the UN Security Council.
“Recent developments are driving a stake through the heart of any prospect for a two-state solution,” he said. “We must change course. All settlement activity must cease immediately.”
The UN chief added that the settlements were a flagrant violation of international law and an obstacle to peace with Palestinians.id Duration 28 minutes 20 seconds28:20
SOURCE: AL- JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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Israel’s parliament passes bill rejecting Palestinian statehood
MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / July 18, 2024
Meanwhile, strikes in Gaza and assassinations in Lebanon continue.
Israel’s parliament overwhelmingly passed a resolution late on Thursday that rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state, a decision which is likely to irk some Democrats, just days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to visit to the United States and address Congress.
The bill, which was co-sponsored by Netanyahu’s coalition along with right-wing parties in the opposition, was passed by a majority of 68 votes, with only nine parliamentarians voting against it.
Benny Gantz, who is seen by many leaders in the West as a more moderate figure than Netanyahu, voted in favour of the bill, along with his party.
The resolution completely rejects Palestinian statehood, even as part of a negotiated settlement with Israel.
“The Knesset [parliament] of Israel firmly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state west of Jordan,” the resolution stated.
“The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel will pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region.
“It will only be a matter of a short time until Hamas takes over the Palestinian state and turns it into a radical Islamic terror base, working in coordination with the Iranian-led axis to eliminate the State of Israel.
“Promoting the idea of a Palestinian state at this time will be a reward for terrorism and will only encourage Hamas and its supporters to see this as a victory, thanks to the massacre of October 7, 2023, and a prelude to the takeover of jihadist Islam in the Middle East,” it added.
Israel’s parliament had already approved a Netanyahu-sponsored bill which rejected Palestinian statehood back in February, but this bill was more of a reaction to reports of countries recognizing Palestine.
This new bill comes as Netanyahu is set to speak in front of Congress next week, which has already caused divisions and debate among the country’s Democratic lawmakers.
Netanyahu is also set on meeting US President Joe Biden, though the latter’s positive Covid-19 test may complicate the meeting’s logistics.
Biden has repeatedly stated his country’s support for a two-state solution.
The bill also directly contradicts the speech made by King Charles on Wednesday which reiterated the UK’s policy for a two-state solution.
UAE official calls for international force
Earlier on Thursday a senior Emirati official backed the idea of deploying an international force to provide “law and order” in the besieged Gaza Strip under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority, in one of the clearest sign yet that Gulf powers were inching closer to an agreement for a post-war force in Gaza that the US has been lobbying for.
Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s former ambassador to the United Nations, now an assistant minister for political affairs in the UAE, called for a “temporary international presence in Gaza” in an opinion article published in the Financial Times.
Nusseibeh called for “a temporary international mission that responds to the humanitarian crisis, establishes law and order, lays the groundwork for governance and paves the way to reuniting Gaza and the occupied West Bank.”
Hamas and Israel are still locked in ceasefire talks aimed at ending the war that has killed almost 39,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women and children. Thousands more are missing.
The two sides have been back and forth over a three-phased proposed outline for the agreement presented by mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
The mediators have not publicly detailed the full contents of the proposal, but the broad contours of the deal, according to previous rounds of negotiations shared with Middle East Eye, involve a six-week pause in fighting, in which Hamas will release some Israeli captives it has held since 7 October when it attacked southern Israel.
In exchange, Israel is expected to release a number of Palestinian prisoners, withdraw its troops from certain regions of the Gaza Strip and allow Palestinians to travel from the south of the territory to the north.
During the second phase, there would be a direct announcement of a permanent cessation of military operations before the remaining Israeli captives are exchanged for more Palestinian prisoners.
In the last phase, there would be a complete lifting of the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
In May, a senior Palestinian source with knowledge of Hamas policies, told MEE that Hamas was prepared to show “flexibility” about the future governance of Gaza, as long as the decision to rule the war-battered enclave is agreed upon by other Palestinian factions and is not imposed by either the US or Israel.
Overnight, at least six people were killed in an Israeli strike on a home in al-Zawayda, in central Gaza, while at least one other person was killed in an Israeli attack on a mosque in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
An Israeli drone strike on the east of Lebanon’s Beqaa also reportedly killed a member of Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya group, according to Al-Jazeera.
