Netanyahu: Palestinian bid for statehood will bring Hamas to power in the West Bank

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday warned that the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN Security Council will lead to Hamas taking over the West Bank, the Anadolu Agency reported.

Israeli radio quoted Netanyahu’s remarks made during a Hanukkah candle lighting celebration at the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday. He said: “Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas thinks he can threaten us with unilateral steps. He doesn’t understand that the result will be a Hamas takeover of Judea and Samaria [West Bank].”

“We won’t let that happen. We will never agree to unilateral diktats. We will always maintain our security,” he vowed.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman described the Palestinian draft resolution, which was submitted to the UN Security Council last night, as a destructive step. During his visit to Prague, he told reporters that “a comprehensive solution to the conflict can only be achieved through negotiations”.

Member of the Israeli Knesset Miri Regev launched a harsh attack against Abbas, saying: “Since President Abbas chose to partner with the United Nations to establish a Palestinian State; we will continue to punish him even if we have to dismantle the Palestinian Authority.”

Regev wrote on Facebook: “President Abu Mazen [Abbas] continues to incite the world against Israel; because he wants to remove Israel and see it there behind the sea.”

On Wednesday, Jordan submitted a draft resolution calling to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 within a specific timeframe, and no later than the end of 2017. The resolution needs at least nine of the Council’s 15 member states to vote in its favour, there have been reports that the US plans to veto the bill.