Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening that Israel’s response to the recognition by Britain, Canada and Australia of a Palestinian state will come only after he returns from the United States, where he is flying this week to speak at the U.N. General Assembly and meet with President Donald Trump.
“It's not going to happen. There will be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River,” Netanyahu said in a video statement in Hebrew.
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Benjamin Netanyahu, Keir Starmer, Mahmoud Abbas
(Photo: Justin Tallis/AFP, Nathan Howard/Reuters, Alberto Pezzali/POOL/AFP, Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Reuters)
He said the three leaders who announced recognition today, and those planning to do so later this week, are “are rewarding terror with an enormous prize” by recognizing a Palestinian state after October 7. “For years I have prevented the creation of that terror state, against tremendous pressure, both domestic and from abroad. We have done this with determination, and with astute statesmanship. Moreover, we have doubled the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, and we will continue on this path,” Netanyahu said. “The response to the latest attempt to force upon us a terror state in the heart of our land will be given after my return from the United States. Stand by."
Netanyahu signaled in his remarks to Yesha Council officials and right-wing ministers who demanded immediate application of sovereignty in response to the recognition, that the decision also depends on President Trump.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the recognition of a “Palestinian” state “as a reward to the murderers of the Negev” requires immediate countermeasures: “Immediate application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and the complete crushing of the Palestinian Authority. I intend to submit a proposal to the next government meeting to apply sovereignty.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich added that the "days are over when Britain and other countries will determine our future. The mandate is over, and the only answer to this anti-Israel step is sovereignty over the historic lands of the Jewish people in Judea and Samaria and removing the foolish idea of a Palestinian state from the agenda forever. Mr. Prime Minister, the time is now and it’s in your hands.”
About two hours after Britain, Canada and Australia’s announcements, the Foreign Ministry published an official response “to the declaration of Britain and several other countries,” without naming Canada or Australia specifically. The statement said, in part: “Israel unilaterally rejects the unilateral recognition by Britain and several other states of a Palestinian state. This declaration does not advance peace; on the contrary, it further undermines stability in the region and harms the prospects for reaching a peace solution in the future.”
According to Israel, “the declaration, described by Hamas leaders as ‘the fruits of the October 7 massacre,’ not only rewards the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust by a terrorist organization that calls for and acts to destroy Israel, but also strengthens the support enjoyed by Hamas. It is destructive to separate statehood — one of the final-status issues — from peace. This step contradicts every logic of negotiation and compromise between two sides and will push the desired peace even further away.”
The response added that “the Palestinian Authority has not met any of its demands and commitments; it has not stopped incitement or the policy of payments for killing, and it has not taken the measures necessary to fight terror — as demonstrated recently by the discovery of rockets and missiles near Ramallah last week. The Palestinian Authority is part of the problem, not part of the solution. That is also why the United States imposed sanctions on the Palestinian Authority and prevented some of its senior officials from entering its territory.
“In any case, Israel will not accept any detached or fanciful text that attempts to force it to accept indefensible borders,” the statement concluded. “Political gestures aimed at domestic voter audiences only harm the Middle East and are not helpful. Instead, if the countries that signed this declaration truly want to stabilize the region, they should focus on pressuring Hamas to release the hostages and disband its weapons immediately.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said: “Most countries of the world have already recognized a Palestinian state in the past. That was, of course, mistaken. But those countries that are doing it now, after October 7, are taking a move that is wrong, outrageous and immoral. On the one hand, it’s a reward to Hamas for the October 7 massacre. It will not be seen otherwise than as encouragement of terror. On the other hand, it’s a reward to the Palestinian Authority, which, as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently explained, still engages in ‘pay-for-slay’ payments to attackers — thereby encouraging terror and violating its obligations under agreements with us.
“The surest guarantee against the establishment of a Palestinian state is ultimately the very broad resistance that exists today among the people of Israel, who understand well the dangers of creating a terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel. The future of the Land of Israel will not be decided in London or Paris; it will be decided here, in Jerusalem.”