Palestinians are furious over remarks Netanyahu made to a parliamentary committee on Monday to the effect that Israel will not allow a Palestinian state to ever come into existence. Palestinian hopes of establishing a sovereign state “must be eliminated,” Netanyahu told Knesset (Israeli parliament) committee members in a closed-door meeting about his government’s plans for the eventual departure of Palestinian National Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, reported the Jerusalem Post. “We are preparing for the period after Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas],” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel “need[s] the Palestinian Authority. We must not allow it to collapse.” Netanyahu’s remarks were reported on a radio news program owned by Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster.
In an official response, Hussein al-Sheikh, civil affairs minister for the PA, rejected Netanyahu’s remarks. “The role of the Palestinian Authority is to achieve the Palestinian national project of freedom, independence, and protection of the Palestinian people,” al-Sheikh said. The PA “has not and will not accept anything other than this national and historical role.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office did not deny Netanyahu’s comments. If accurate, Palestinian leaders say, the comments prove the premier’s “true motives.” In years past, Netanyahu has offered perfunctory support for the internationally backed notion of an independent Palestinian state, provided it had no military or security power.
