Israel’s prime minister insists his country is not heading toward becoming a binational state, rejecting a warning to that effect by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
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In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening that the only solution to the conflict is a “demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Saban Forum in Washington, D.C. Sunday in a video call and said that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a single state for both people, but rather a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes Israel.
Mr Kerry, who held meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Ramallah and Jerusalem on November 24, criticised the continued expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank, noting that Palestinians were subject to a total ban on construction activity in some parts of their Israeli-occupied territory.
Mr Kerry had cautioned against calls from some Israeli politicians to let the Palestinian Authority wither, calling them counterproductive and self-defeating for Israel.
Palestinians, after the launch of the Oslo peace process in the 1990s, at times have expressed recognition of Israel’s Jewish character. The earlier idea of blaming Israel for regional turmoil was now seen as “childish and irrelevant”, he said.
Netanyahu also hit back at Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who accused Israeli forces of conducting extrajudicial executions of Palestinians.
Since October 1, nearly daily attacks and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and violence between Palestinians and Jewish settlers have killed 110 Palestinians (including an Israeli Arab), 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean, according to an AFP count. “This will not happen, and we will continue to protect the lives of Israel’s citizens”.
And, police said a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli officer before he was killed, the latest incident in more than two months of Palestinian attacks.
Wallstrom’s press secretary, Erik Wirkensjo, reportedly said that the Swedish FM had not used the term “extrajudicial executions” but had instead commented generally on what she had described as Israel’s disproportional reaction to perceived threats.
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The Palestinians are also frustrated by the failure of decades of peace talks to deliver them an independent state and the ongoing occupation of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, with many also losing faith in the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas.
