Netanyahu: "Surrendering to Hamas' demands will not lead to the release of the abductees - but to another massacre"
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanya responded by claiming tonight (Friday) that he "outright rejects" unilateral international recognition of a Palestinian state.
"An agreement will be reached only through direct negotiations, without preconditions."
"Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition in the wake of the October 7 massacre will give a huge reward to unprecedented terrorism and prevent any future peace settlement," Netanyahu claimed.
The Prime Minister's words came shortly after he spoke with US President Joe Biden for about 40 minutes. This is the second conversation the two have had this week. in Rafah and the humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting, Kirya, Tel Aviv.
December 31, 2023/Image processing, Miriam Elster/Flash 90
Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during their meeting in Jerusalem last week that American recognition - direct or indirect - of a Palestinian state "will be a reward for the planners and perpetrators of the October 7 massacre", according to two senior Israeli officials.
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The Netanyahu government is very concerned that the Biden administration will make a unilateral move to recognize a Palestinian state or allow such a move in the UN institutions and thus reverse a long-standing American policy that supported the establishment of a Palestinian state only as a result of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The far-right ministers in the government, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gabir, are pushing for a preliminary move in the form of an official cabinet decision according to which the Israeli government's policy is opposition to a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu, who during the last 15 years has expressed himself several times in favor of establishing a Palestinian state, has so far avoided making an official decision opposing a Palestinian state.
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