Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s agenda is becoming clearer by the day, as he reveals plans to eliminate the possibility of Palestinian statehood.
“In any future arrangement [between Israelis and Palestinians] … Israel needs security control of all territory west of the Jordan River,” Netanyahu said at a press conference earlier this week. “This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?”
Israel’s latest offensive against Palestinians began on October 8, after the militant group Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis and took 240 more hostage in Gaza. Netanyahu promptly launched a brutal military campaign in Gaza, which has killed over 25,000 people, most of them women and children. Israel’s siege of Gaza has also displaced 80% of Gaza’s population and left much of the population in danger of starvation. South Africa recently argued before the United Nations’ International Court of Justice that Israel is committing genocide.
Netanyahu’s opposition to the two-state solution has been well-documented over the years—along with his complicity in the October 7 massacre. The New York Times recently reported that Netanyahu has spent years quietly encouraging payments to Hamas from Qatar, in a convoluted bid to reduce the likelihood of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu has also overseen numerous illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, making the establishment of a Palestinian state even harder.
Plus, critics have pointed out that Netanyahu, who’s currently on trial in Israel for corruption, seems to be using the October 7 massacre as a way to escape accountability for charges of fraud, breach of trust, and bribery. It’s a more plausible explanation for Netanyahu’s actions than his claim that unchecked violence will bring Israel a “total victory” over Hamas—a strategy that has failed miserably for decades.
At the same press conference earlier this week, Netanyahu justified Israeli control of Gaza and the West Bank by saying, “Every territory we pull out from, we get terror, terrible terror against us. It happened in southern Lebanon, it happened in the Gaza Strip, and it happened in [the West Bank].” However, Netanyahu neglected to mention that Israel has never truly pulled out of Gaza or the West Bank, maintaining military control and/or settler presence in both territories. Palestinian resistance movements—along with violent terrorist groups like Hamas—are fueled by the desperation of a people under endless occupation.
Jews deserve the same safety and sovereignty as any other group on Earth, but Israelis won’t find it under Netanyahu’s leadership. Instead, Netanyahu can only offer more war, death, and misery for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
(featured image: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
