“International dictate”: With this shocking formula, Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the possible unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by the United States. This project, supported by “moderate” Arab countries, was revealed by The Washington Post and subsequently confirmed by a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister.
The threat is considered so serious that Benjamin Netanyahu saw fit to intervene personally. Although the United States declared itself in favor of a two-state solution, it had never before considered unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state without a prior agreement with Israel.
“Huge reward”
Benyamin Netanyahu does not hide his anger: “Israel immediately rejects any international dictate on the final status of the Palestinians,” he said on his X account on the night of Thursday to Friday. Unilateral recognition after the October 7 massacres would be a huge reward for terrorists and would prevent a future peace agreement. »
The Prime Minister is all the more worried because this project, supported by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan, contains a roadmap with a precise timetable. Important detail: The entire operation is related to ongoing negotiations for the release of 134 hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Once an agreement is reached, a 45-day ceasefire is expected. A new Palestinian government would be formed during the ceasefire. The United States would recognize a Palestinian state and discussions about Saudi Arabia's recognition of Israel would resume.
The far right is on the way
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also a major rival to Hamas, which controls part of the West Bank, is ready to play the game. He did his part by urging Hamas to quickly complete the release of the hostages in order to put an end to Israeli military operations and avoid a new “Nakba,” a catastrophe in Arabic that precipitates the founding of the state Israel in 1948 and the flight or expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians at that time.
It is not surprising that the far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir (National Security) and Bezalel Smotrich (Finance), whose support in parliament is crucial for Benjamin Netanyahu's majority, have taken a clear and clear stance from the war cabinet against the emergence of the slightest Palestinian state demanded.
Both ministers support a new occupation and a resumption of Israeli colonization in the Gaza Strip. Amiraï Chikli, diaspora minister for Likud, Netanyahu's party, suggested that the Jewish state should simply terminate the 1993 Oslo Accords, the first agreement reached between Israelis and Palestinians that allowed the emergence of an autonomy regime led by the Palestinian Authority .
Ground operation in Rafah
In short, the path to an agreement can be very complicated. Calendar coincidence: Benjamin Netanyahu decided to freeze talks in Cairo about the hostages without consulting his centrist government partners. It therefore complicates the implementation of the first stage of the American-Arab plan.
He also still intends to launch a large-scale ground operation in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, considered Hamas' last military stronghold. Americans and Europeans, including Emmanuel Macron, have denounced the danger of viewing such an offensive as a humanitarian disaster.
The whole question is whether Joe Biden, who has repeatedly advocated the creation of a Palestinian state led by a “revived” Palestinian Authority, will decide to pound his fist on the table to match his words with actions .