Israel‘s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a final bid to shore up right-wing support ahead of a knife-edge vote, said on Monday (March 16) he would not permit a Palestinian state to be created under his watch if he is re-elected.
Trailing his centre-left opponent Isaac Herzog in opinion polls, the three-term leader has sought to shift the focus away from socioeconomic issues and on to security challenges, saying he alone can defend Israel.
Having previously hinted that he would accept a Palestinian state, Netanyahu reversed course on Monday, citing risks that he linked to the regional spread of Islamist militancy.
He said that if he is re-elected, the Palestinians would not get the independent state they seek in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
“Whoever moves to establish a Palestinian state or intends to withdraw from territory is simply yielding territory for radical Islamic terrorist attacks against Israel, this is the genuine reality that was created here in the past few years. Those who who do not understand that bury their heads in the sand. The left-wing parties do it, bury their heads in the sand, time and again,” he told the Israeli news site NRG on the eve of the election.
Asked if that meant a state would not be established if he remained prime minister, he said: “Indeed.”
“An International initiative will be presented to us, to return to the 1967 borders, to divide Jerusalem, those are real things, it is going to happen. We need to form a strong, firm national government, headed by Likud (Netanyahu’s party) in order to push those pressures away,” he added.
His remarks appeared aimed at rallying right-wing support, a day before Israel‘s election.
Netanyahu has said in the past he envisaged the creation of a demilitarised Palestinian state as part of a permanent peace deal.
Herzog, leader of Israel‘s Labour party, favours reviving peace talks with U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Herzog’s centrist running mate, Tzipi Livni, was formerly a member of Netanyahu’s conservative coalition government and handled negotiations with Abbas until they stalled last April.
Herzog and Livni have accused Netanyahu of playing up fears over the Palestinians and Iran’s nuclear programme to distract from the high cost-of-living and other social issues that according to surveys are Israelis’ principal concerns.
Reuters/NRG