Israel Formalizes Opposition to Unilateral Imposition of Palestinian Statehood

Latest Developments

Israel’s government unanimously passed a resolution on February 18 rejecting any effort to impose Palestinian statehood unilaterally. The vote by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet followed mounting calls by Western leaders for the Gaza war to lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. The resolution also comes in the wake of reports that the Biden administration might lend U.S. recognition to such a state if declared unilaterally.

“Israel utterly rejects international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. A settlement, if it is to be reached, will come about solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions,” the resolution said.

“Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” the resolution added. “Such recognition in the wake of the October 7th massacre would be a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would prevent any future peace settlement.”

Expert Analysis

“The resolution, which received support from the centrist party of Benny Gantz, did not rule out Palestinian statehood, if achieved through peaceful negotiations. But there is simply no domestic Israeli support at this time for Palestinian statehood — especially if imposed unilaterally on Israel — given the terrorism horrors that Israel has suffered from Gaza and the West Bank, and the overwhelming support for such terrorism among Palestinians.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“Israelis from the across the political spectrum reject the two-state proposal that is being foisted upon them by the Biden administration. The idea of rewarding the abhorrent Hamas attacks and murderous Iran-backed violence with major concessions is wrong-headed and dangerous. Instead, the U.S. should be demonstrating strength, resolutely bolstering our allies as they face down genocidal terror regimes, and forcefully responding to attacks against our personnel and assets in the region.” — Enia Krivine, Senior Director of FDD’s Israel Program and National Security Network

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