Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, after hearing from President Biden and others about the need for a two-state solution, today unanimously approved a declaration calling such approaches to Israel “international diktats.” Biden had spoken with Netanyahu on Feb. 15, and made public comments on Feb. 16, calling upon Netanyahu to accept the hostage deal that Washington is working on with Saudi Arabia, which includes a definite timeline for Palestinian statehood.
The cabinet’s declaration states: “Israel utterly rejects international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.… Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition in the wake of the October 7th massacre would be a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would foil any future peace settlement.” Kan news reported that the unanimous statement was a last-minute addition to the cabinet meeting agenda.
