Likud ministers in the Israeli Knesset are in unanimous agreement that Netanyahu should not agree to any two-state solution as a means to end the war against Hamas.
The ministers this week signed a letter calling for Netanyahu to declare immediate sovereignty over West Bank lands Judea and Samaria – critical countryside during the ministry of Jesus Christ – before the summer session ends in the Knesset, according to Jewish News Syndicate.
“The massacre of Oct. 7 proved that the establishment of a Palestinian state in the rest of the territory is an existential danger to Israel. It’s time for sovereignty,” the letter states.
The Likud ministers may find a supportive ear in Washington. President Donald Trump wasn’t gung-ho about a two-state solution during his first term and seems to have evolved toward opposing such a view in his second.
In spite of Oct. 7, pressure is increasing on Israel, as United Nations and European Union leaders are increasingly framing a two-state solution as essential.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres doesn’t want a prime opportunity to solidify a two-state solution to slip away.
“The world cannot afford to watch the two-State solution disappear. Political leaders face clear choices — the choice to be silent, the choice to acquiesce, or the choice to act,” he said in remarks to the U.N. Security Council in April.
Trump appointed former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as U.S. ambassador to Israel, presumably with full knowledge of Huckabee’s thoughts on the matter.
Just weeks ago Huckabee said he “does not think” a Palestinian state is a U.S. policy goal.
Huckabee has also floated the idea of a Palestinian state someplace other than inside the current boundaries of Israel.
“Does it have to be in Judea and Samaria?” Does it need to be somewhere different? Does it need to be an opportunity for people to have a true place that is completely their own? Or is it going to be in the existing areas that are currently under the dominion of the PA?” he asked via The Times of Israel.
Quena Gonzalez, a policy advisor with Family Research Council, said on Washington Watch Wednesday that opposition to a two-state plan is “a no-brainer.”
However, that was not the position of the previous U.S. administration.
Former President Joe Biden praised the two-state plan as the only path to Israel’s long-term security and as a way to uphold Palestinian dignity and self-determination.
Gonzalez: Two-state plan not path to peace
Trump sees things differently, Gonzalez told show host Tony Perkins.
“We know President Trump is wanting deals for peace. This is one in which any observer of the situation should understand it's not going to produce peace,” he said.
Bold action by the Likud ministers is helpful, he said, adding that a two-state solution isn’t going to line up with Trump’s goal of peace.
“It’s an important call to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the land, and in light of the current realities with Iran, Hamas in Gaza and other regional realities, we have to understand it's not going to produce peace to just give more land away.”
