Bennett says no Palestinian state under his watch

Naftali Bennett

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will grow illegal settlements and his coalition won’t facilitate the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Yamina chief said in an interview.  This comes ahead of a key Thursday meeting with US President Joe Biden, part of Bennett’s first state visit as PM, which began in the US on Tuesday.

He also said the siege against Gaza is to continue while Hamas, which is in power in Gaza, maintains weapons and launches rockets at the Jewish state, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

“This government will neither annex nor form a Palestinian state, everyone gets that,” Bennett said.  He claimed discussions on ending the decades-long Palestine-Israel conflict are not going to occur. However, independence for Palestine is equally something the Israeli prime minister is strongly against.

On illegal Jewish settlements, Bennett, who used to be a senior figure in that movement, explained Tel Aviv is to continue to grow those West Bank outposts that have already been created.

He would not say if the US would be stopped from reopening a consulate general in Jerusalem tasked with managing Washington’s ties with Palestine after this was shut by ex-President Donald Trump.  However, he did claim: “Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. It’s not the capital of other nations”. This is despite the United Nations recognizing East Jerusalem as Palestinian land under Israeli occupation.

Concerning the besieged Gaza Strip, Bennett told The New York Times that, if it became necessary, he’d be prepared to enter into another armed conflict against Hamas.