Bennett vows to oppose a Palestinian state if Included in Trump’s Peace Plan
In September, US President Donald Trump said a two-state solution is what 'works best' to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett says his far-right Bayit Yehudi party will oppose an endorsement of a Palestinian state even if it is included in a US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan.
While the specifics of his plan are still under wraps, Trump said in September he thinks a two-state solution is what “works best.” The president has branded his plan to end the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians "the deal of the century."
Speaking in an interview with an Israeli Military Radio broadcaster, Bennett said that while his party will hear out the planned Peace deal, it will ultimately oppose a solution that would see a Palestinian State set up in the West Bank. Bennett said he does not have the details of the peace plan inked in Washington.
Currently with eight seats in the Knesset, Bennett’s party is expected to gain additional two seats in the 2019 elections, according to a poll released last month by Israeli Channel 2 News.
In 2014, Bennett outlined what he called a “stability plan,” his proposed solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in an op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal . While he opposes an official Palestinian state as he made clear in the interview Sunday, he asserts that Palestinians living in certain areas in the West Bank should govern themselves, and that “Israel should not interfere in day-to-day governance.”
“Israel must allow Palestinians complete freedom of movement, which requires removing all roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank,” Bennett wrote, further suggesting Israel should dismantle the security barrier.
In September, Trump said he plans to unveil the Middle-East peace plan within four months. Last week, outgoing US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said she had read the proposed peace plan and that it is more detailed than previous plans. Haley did not say when the plan will be presented.
