Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a sharp rebuke Saturday evening to Ra’am party chairman MK Mansour Abbas following his call for Israeli recognition of a ‘Palestinian’ state. Netanyahu made clear that as long as he leads the government, no such move will happen under any scenario. “As long as I am prime minister, there will be no Palestinian state controlled by Iran—not in Gaza and not in Judea and Samaria. Period,” Netanyahu declared.
Netanyahu linked Abbas’s statements to the possibility of a government led by Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot that would rely on support from Arab parties. The prime minister claimed “the price of a left-wing coalition with the Muslim Brotherhood has been exposed again,” adding a sharp attack on opposition leaders: “These are the partners of Eisenkot, Liberman and Tropper, who boycott Likud voters but warmly welcome supporters of Tibi and Balad.” Likud is seeking to focus the election campaign on the question of political partners who would enable the Eisenkot bloc to form a government.
The sharp response comes after Abbas’s remarks at Ra’am’s national conference in Tayibe, where he declared his party would work to get Israel and the United States to recognize a ‘Palestinian’ state. Abbas claimed “the State of Palestine exists, and most of the world recognizes it,” adding that his party is working to end the occupation and the conflict. For his part, Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot responded to the remarks and tried to commit that no ‘Palestinian’ state would be established under a government he forms, but refrained from announcing he would disqualify sitting in a coalition or relying on Ra’am.