Naftali Bennett’s Call for Israel to Repudiate Palestinian State is Dangerous

November 9, 2016

A statement from Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, calling on his government to seize on the election of Donald Trump as US president to repudiate its support for the establishment of a Palestinian state is foolish and profoundly dangerous.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should reject this call immediately.

Bennett also mentioned the Republican Party platform, which walked away from support for a two-state solution, though it did not embrace any clear alternative. The platform document did, however, reject the notion – which is clear under international law – that Israel’s status in the West Bank is that of an occupier.

For decades, Republican and Democratic administrations have acknowledged that the two-state solution represents the only way for Israel and the Palestinians to end their conflict peacefully. As such, it is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a secure Jewish homeland and a democracy.

All other formulas, including that put forward by Bennett, are recipes for the continuation and deepening of the conflict with the consequent loss of life, destruction of property and suffering on both sides.