The Israeli media has picked up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most recent campaign pledge, made Saturday, about three days before he stands for re-election. Haaretz:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israel's Channel 12 News on Saturday evening that he will start extending Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank if re-elected prime minister in the election on April 9.
It remains unclear at this point whether Netanyahu was referring to all of the West Bank, or only parts of it.
"A Palestinian state will endanger our existence and I withstood huge pressure over the past eight years, no prime minister has withstood such pressure. We must control our destiny," the premier said.
The Jerusalem Post:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began a campaign over the weekend to take seats away from the Likud’s satellite parties on the Right, in an effort to win more seats for Likud than Blue and White in Tuesday’s election, and ensure that President Reuven Rivlin will ask him to form the next government.
As part of that effort, in an interview with Channel 12 on Saturday night, Netanyahu vowed to annex territories in settlements and evacuate the illegal West Bank herding village of Khan Al-Ahmar, if he wins another term.
For years, I’ve viewed prospects for a meaningful Two-State Solution between Israelis and Palestinians as extremely remote. As the illegal settlements, blocs and outposts expand and gain new tens of thousands of Jewish residents in their segregated enclaves, the general population of Israel itself turns more and more rightward, and against seeking any sort of equitable national aspirations for Palestinians. The latter, trapped in either military occupation or under the control of enfeebled Palestinian governing authorities, which are largely overseen by Israeli institutions, are understandably defiant, although increasingly pessimistic.
The Prime Minister has a tendency to say some of his most inflammatory things in the run-up to elections, including past racist comments:
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel apologized on Monday for making what were widely condemned as racist comments last week in saying that Arab citizens were voting in “droves.”
But even as he spoke with a group of Israeli Arabs gathered at his Jerusalem residence, the White House issued a new signal that it remained furious with Mr. Netanyahu for campaign comments that also appeared to close the door on a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict.
Most of our US Congress’ members blandly espouse the “Two-State Solution.” Even the most progressive member of the U.S. House, one who is also openly critical of Israeli policies, Rep. Ilhan Omar, supports it:
“I support a two-state solution, with internationally recognized borders, which allows for both Israelis and Palestinians to have their own sanctuaries and self-determination,” she wrote. It’s the balanced approach to ensuring the security and freedom for all.
Do you think there is any remaining possibility that a viable Palestinian state will emerge in the near or middle future?