Netanyahu: Israel will not be binational state

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel will not become a binational state and in order for peace to be reached “the other side must decide that it wants peace as well”.

Speaking at the opening of a meeting for the Israeli cabinet, Netanyahu responded to remarks made by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday.

Kerry said: “One-state solution is no solution at all for a secure, Jewish, democratic Israel living in peace.”

“How does Israel possibly maintain its character as a Jewish and democratic state when from the river to the sea there would not even be a Jewish majority?”

“Would millions of Palestinians be given the basic rights of Israeli citizens including the right to vote, or would they be relegated to a permanent underclass? Would the Israelis and Palestinians living in such close quarters have segregated roads and transportation systems with different laws applying in the Palestinian enclaves? Would anyone really believe they were being treated equally? What would the international response be to that, my friends, or to a decision by Israel to unilaterally annex large portions of the West Bank?”

Kerry added that the change needs “real courage, leadership, and difficult choices.”

Netanyahu held the Palestinian Authority responsible for the failure of negotiations as well as the incitement to violence against Israel.

He criticised the chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat for offering condolences to the owners of a destroyed house who, according to Netanyahu, “tried to murder Israelis”. The prime minister said that Erekat not only refrained from condemning “the terrorist” but he also went to console his family.

Netanyahu also condemned comments by Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, describing her charge that Israel carries out extrajudicial killings and uses disproportionate force against Palestinians as “scandalous.”

“I guess Israelis are expected to offer their necks to those who wish to stab them,” he said.