Majority of Knesset members vote to oppose Palestinian state

The new declaration revises a previous one in February that left open the possibility of creating a pathway towards Palestinian statehood.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

In a revision of a declaration in February, 63 Knesset members issued a statement against establishing a Palestinian State west of the Jordan River.

The declaration said, “The Israeli Knesset categorically opposes founding a Palestinian state west of the Jordan (River).”

The current declaration would revise an earlier one passed by 99 Knesset members in February, which said, “Peace can only be achieved after we achieve total victory over Hamas and through direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions.”

The previous declaration left open the possibility of creating a pathway towards Palestinian statehood.

The updated declaration approved by 63 MKs on Thursday would explicitly state that the establishment of a Palestinian State would pose a danger to Israel.

They caucus asked Knesset Speaker MK Amir Ohana (Likud) to hold a plenum debate and vote on the rejection of Palestinian statehood.

The initiative was led by the leaders of the Knesset’s Land of Israel Caucus, MKs Yuli Edelstein (Likud), Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionist Party), and Limor Son Harmelech (Otzma Yehudit).

It was signed by 63 MKs representing eight political parties including: the coalition, the Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Religious Zionist Party, and Otzma Yehudit, and from the opposition, United Right, National Unity, and Yisrael Beytenu.

The text the caucus has drafted explained that the “founding a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel will be an existential threat to the state of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and destabilize the region.”

“It will only be a short matter of time until Hamas takes over the Palestinian state and turns it into a base of radical Islamic terror, acting in coordination with the axis led by Iran, in order to wipe out the state of Israel,” it continued.

In addition, the text would state that a Palestinian State established following the events of October the 7th would be seen as a reward for terror.