The Knesset has overwhelmingly passed a resolution rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state, garnering support from parties across Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, right-wing opposition parties, and Benny Gantz’s centrist National Unity party.
The center-left Yesh Atid party’s MKs, led by Yair Lapid, left the plenum to avoid supporting the measure, despite Lapid’s public endorsement of a two-state solution. Only lawmakers from the Labor, Ra’am, and Hadash-Ta’al parties opposed the resolution.
The vote comes just days before Netanyahu’s scheduled visit to the United States, where he will address a joint session of Congress and meet with President Joe Biden at the White House. This move is expected to exacerbate tensions with Democrats who are uneasy about embracing an Israeli government that increasingly rejects a two-state solution.
In February, the Knesset passed a similar resolution sponsored by Netanyahu, rejecting the unilateral establishment of a Palestinian state in response to international considerations of recognizing a Palestinian state without a peace agreement with Israel.
Today’s resolution, passed with a vote of 68-9, explicitly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state, even as part of a negotiated settlement with Israel.
“The Knesset of Israel firmly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state west of Jordan. The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel will pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and destabilize the region,” the resolution states.
“It will only be a matter of a short time until Hamas takes over the Palestinian state and turns it into a radical Islamic terror base, working in coordination with the Iranian-led axis to eliminate the State of Israel,” it continues. “Promoting the idea of a Palestinian state at this time will be a reward for terrorism and will only encourage Hamas and its supporters to see this as a victory, thanks to the massacre of October 7, 2023, and a prelude to the takeover of jihadist Islam in the Middle East.”
