ISRAEL SAYS NO TO PALASTINIAN STATE – Israel’s Netanyahu reaffirms opposition to a Palestinian state
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel remained opposed to a Palestinian state, after facing pressure from right-wing ministers who said a U.S.-backed statement indicates support for a pathway to a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu made the comments at a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
On Saturday (November 15), Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich called on Netanyahu to denounce a Palestinian state, after the U.S. and many Muslim-majority nations endorsed a draft U.N. resolution backing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, saying that the process offers a pathway to Palestinian statehood.
The issue of Palestinian statehood has been a flashpoint for Israel’s right-wing government, which has repeatedly rejected it.
At the start of Sunday’s cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu also referred to Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group will be disarmed ‘either the easy way or the hard way.’
Netanyahu also said that Israel will act against settlers’ violence ‘with full force’, as violent incidents in the West Bank increased in recent weeks during the olive harvest season.
