Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will maintain full security control over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, whether with or without a permanent settlement, and considered that the establishment of a Palestinian state constitutes an existential threat to Israel.

Netanyahu said in a statement yesterday, Monday, “I submitted to the government a proposal stating that Israel will oppose the attempt to impose the establishment of a Palestinian state on it unilaterally. The proposal met with consensus despite the differences in opinions within the government, and this means that we are united in refusing to submit to international dictates.”

He explained that he presented to the Knesset (Parliament) legislation consistent with the Council of Ministers’ decision to reject “international dictates” that seek to push the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The Israeli Prime Minister expected that the proposed legislation would gain broad support, "and it will show the world that there is broad agreement in Israel against international efforts to impose a Palestinian state on us," he said.

Everyone knows

He continued, "Everyone knows that I am the one who obstructed, for decades, the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger our existence," and pointed out that his position was strengthened in the wake of the Al-Aqsa flood operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance on the seventh of last October.

He added, "My position remains clear. In any situation, whether with or without a permanent settlement, Israel will maintain full security control over the entire area west of Jordan, and this of course includes the West Bank and Gaza Strip."

In addition to the United States, European countries announced that they were considering recognizing an independent Palestinian state, in a proactive step that would pave the way for the implementation of the two-state solution, but this was met with rejection from the highest political levels in Israel.

The United Nations granted Palestine observer status in 2012, and among the 193 member states of the United Nations, 139 countries have so far recognized Palestine as an independent state.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies