PALESTINE
Wed 21 Feb 2024 5:11 pm - Jerusalem Time
The Knesset rejects a “unilateral Palestinian state”
Today, Wednesday, the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) approved a draft resolution submitted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to confront what was described as “international dictates and the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.”
99 deputies voted in favor of the draft resolution, while 21 other deputies opposed it.
From the Knesset podium, Netanyahu addressed the international community, saying that the people of Israel and their representatives are more united than ever before imposing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
He considered that these dictates would not lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, considering that “reaching this solution can only be achieved through the destruction of Hamas and direct negotiations without preconditions,” as he described it.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said in his response to Netanyahu: “My party and I voted for this proposal, because I and my party are against unilateral measures. But as you and I know very well, there is really no such thing. This is an invention. I invented a threat that does not exist.” About What are we talking about? There is not a single official in the world who proposes to recognize Palestine unilaterally. I came up with an idea so that they do not raise banners "You are guilty."
On Sunday, the Israeli government unanimously approved a resolution regarding its opposition to “unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state.”
International and regional calls have escalated for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the framework of the two-state solution proposed by international and Arab bodies and organizations, with the aim of ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Last November, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that the United States “has begun work to lay the foundations for building two separate states” to end the conflict in the long term, and he considered that “the two-state solution is the only path to peace in the Middle East.”
On Monday, the European Union entered into the proposal, as EU Foreign Policy Commissioner Josep Borrell announced that he had received a request from two European countries to discuss recognition of a Palestinian state, without naming them.
Borrell said that the European Union must "support the Arab initiative" which stipulates the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In light of continued international pressure on Israel, Netanyahu pledged to move forward with the war in Gaza and carry out a planned ground operation in the border city of Rafah with Egypt, in the far south of the Strip, where more than a million people are gathered, most of them displaced people who left their areas to escape the fighting.
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The Knesset rejects a “unilateral Palestinian state”