Netanyahu rejects two state solution ahead of EU meetings

Netanyahu rejects two state solution ahead of EU meetings

 TOVAH LAZAROFF

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted of thwarting Palestinian statehood, ahead of an unusual European Union set of meetings on Monday between the bloc’s foreign ministers and their Middle East counterparts, including Israel Katz.

“I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of the Jordan River,” Netanyahu said in a video message he issued to the Israeli public on Sunday night.

He stressed that his ability to stand firm against international and domestic pressure on this issue “is what has prevented – over the years – the establishment of a Palestinian state that would have constituted an existential danger to Israel.”

He spoke as his public popularity remained low, with Channel 13 reporting that according to the latest poll, the Likud under his leadership would garner only 16 seats compared to the 32 it earned in the 2022 elections.

Public statements against Palestinian statehood play well with his voter base domestically, but not with the international community which has increased calls for two-states in light of the Gaza war, particularly the high casualty count.

International pressure on Israel mounts against backdrop of war in Gaza

International pressure on Israel, however, has increased both in Washington and Brussels due to the Gaza war with the EU’s 27 foreign ministers set to meet with their fellow counterparts on Monday.

The following foreign ministers will be present: Israel Katz of Israel, Saudi Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, Ayman Safadi of Jordan, Sameh Shoukry of Egypt, and Riyad al-Maliki of the Palestinian Authority. The EU foreign ministers will also meet with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

According to a report in the Financial Times, the EU foreign ministers are also likely to discuss the possibility of imposing consequences on Israel if Netanyahu continues to reject Palestinian statehood.

In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Saudi prince Bin Farhan said that a “credible, irreversible process to a Palestinian state” was the only way to integrate Israel into the Middle East. “We are fully ready as Arab countries to engage in that conversation. I would hope that the Israelis would be as well.”