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Report: Netanyahu considering West Bank separation to prevent binational state
This morning’s Makor Rishon reports that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a key Knesset committee this week that there needs to be a “separation” between Israel and the Palestinians.
On Monday, Netanyahu addressed the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, whose meetings are classified. Makor Rishon’s Ze’ev Kam says that lawmakers at the meeting report that Netanyahu clarified, “We will not talk to a government in which Hamas is taking part,” in reference to the new Palestinian unity government. However, he then explained, “I don’t want one state from the Jordan [River] to the [Mediterranean] Sea,” adding, “we need to have a Jewish majority that is overwhelming and for that state to be democratic.” Netanyahu apparently concluded, “And that is why we need to come to a separation.” Although Netanyahu did not elaborate on what “separation” might involve, he reportedly said that it is necessary in order for Israel to maintain its Jewish character.
One unnamed MK told Makor Rishon that it was the first time he had heard Netanyahu use the word “separation” and noted, “That is the exact same terminology used by Ariel Sharon when he began to move toward the disengagement plan in Gaza.” Netanyahu’s reported comments come just a few weeks after he told Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg that “the idea of taking unilateral steps is gaining ground, from the centre-left to the centre-right.”
Makor Rishon’s report comes as several Israeli leaders mull the prospect of next steps following the suspension of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in April. Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett has suggested that there should be Palestinian self-government in the Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank, while Israel should annex the areas of the West Bank under its control. However, both Hatnuah leader and chief peace negotiator Tzipi Livni and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid have both rejected Bennett’s plan and insist that a two-state solution is the only route to progress towards peace.