Israeli lawmakers voted on Wednesday to back Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s rejection of any \u201cunilateral\u201d recognition of a Palestinian state as international calls have grown for the revival of Palestinian statehood negotiations.
\nIssued amid the war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, the symbolic declaration also received backing from members of the opposition, with 99 of 120 lawmakers voting in support, the Knesset spokesperson said.
\nThe Israeli position says that any permanent accord with the Palestinians must be reached through direct negotiations between the sides and not by international dictates.
\n\u201cThe Knesset came together in an overwhelming majority against the attempt to impose on us the establishment of a Palestinian state, which would not only fail to bring peace but would endanger the state of Israel,\u201d said Netanyahu.
\nThe vote drew condemnation from the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, which accused Israel of holding the rights of the Palestinian people hostage by forceful occupation of territories where Palestinians seek to establish a state.
\n\u201cThe ministry reaffirms that the State of Palestine\u2019s full membership in the United Nations and its recognition by other nations does not require permission from Netanyahu,\u201d it said in a statement.
\nLittle progress has been made towards achieving a two-state solution \u2013 a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza alongside Israel \u2013 since the signing of the interim Oslo Accords in the early 1990s.
\nAmong the obstacles impeding Palestinian statehood are expanding Israeli settlements in territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Most countries regard the settlements, which in many areas cut Palestinian communities off from each other, as a violation of international law.
\nThe two-state solution has long been a core Western policy in the region. Since the outbreak in October of the Gaza war, the United States has been trying to promote steps toward the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a broader Middle East deal that would include Saudi Arabia and other Arab states officially normalising relations with Israel.
\n(Reuters)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israeli lawmakers voted to support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of any “unilateral” recognition of a Palestinian state, amid international calls for the revival of Palestinian statehood negotiations. This vote occurred during the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. The declaration, symbolically opposing the imposition of a Palestinian state without direct negotiations, was supported by 99 of 120 Knesset members, including opposition members. Netanyahu emphasized that any permanent agreement with the Palestinians must come through direct talks, not international dictates. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized the vote, asserting that the recognition of a Palestinian state by the United Nations and other nations does not need Netanyahu’s permission. Progress towards a two-state solution has been minimal since the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, with obstacles including Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, which are widely considered a violation of international law. The two-state solution remains a key Western policy goal, with recent efforts by the United States to promote steps towards Palestinian statehood as part of a broader Middle East deal involving Arab states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3,145,298,187,299,69,493,345,462,114,544,380,170,293,18],"class_list":["post-3154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-cyprus","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-international","tag-israel","tag-middle-east","tag-netanyahu","tag-palestine","tag-palestinians","tag-top-news","tag-united-states","tag-us","tag-violation","tag-war","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n