Israeli parliament passes resolution rejecting Palestinian statehood
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government with the far-right party supported the motion, but the center-left opposition leader Yair Lapid, who had previously said he supported a two-state solution, walked out before the vote.
Palestinian Authority, PLO and Hamas Reactions to Decision
In a statement after the adoption of the decision, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said there could be no peace or security for anyone without the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and that is true of many Palestinian member states. The UN recognizes the Palestinian state, he stressed. Rudeineh said the Israeli government, with the support of the US, had dragged the entire region into the abyss and described Israel’s war in Gaza as “terrorism” with the deaths of civilians.
Hussein El-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, said in a statement on his social media account that the Knesset’s decision “confirms Israel’s racism, disregard for international law, and its policy of continuing the occupation indefinitely.” El-Sheikh called on countries hesitant to recognize a Palestinian state to “immediately” revoke their decision to preserve the two-state solution, while urging Arab countries to “respond appropriately” to the decision adopted by the Knesset.
A Hamas statement said, “The adoption of the motion in the Zionist regime’s parliament against the establishment of a Palestinian state is an invalid decision taken by an occupying power that has no legitimacy on Palestinian soil.” In a statement, it said, “We affirm that the Palestinian people will continue their resistance, struggle and legitimate defense against the fascist war of destruction that the Zionist terrorist regime is waging against the Palestinian people. This decision is a message of challenge to the international community and an underestimation of the Palestinian people. The decision of the UN General Assembly in favor of granting full UN membership to Palestine means accepting it.”
