The cat is out of the bag. Well, it has been out of the bag all the time but no one noticed it till now.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has not only declared publicly that for years he has been working against a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, but he has also gone on to say that Israel needs “control over the entire area west of Jordan”. Does this sound familiar? Yes, that was the line which the world condemned Hamas for chanting — from the Jordan river to the sea. Those chanting it have been dubbed anti-Semitic and have been met with an iron fist. But now, such a plan for total Israeli control is reported to have been presented by Mr. Netanyahu to his cabinet. It is kosher now.
There was soon another bombshell, this time for Israel. The British Foreign Secretary, David Cameron said that the United Kingdom was willing to recognise a Palestinian state before a deal with Israel since the outcome of talks to arrive at a two-state solution could take years. This has set the cat among the pigeons — not the same cat but a different one. France has also joined the U.K. in this. Will the United States be far behind then? Unnerved, Mr. Netanyahu spoke to U.S. President Joe Biden. He later said that Israel “rejects international dictates”, and that it will “continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state” as it would be a “huge reward to unprecedented terrorism”. What was left unsaid was that it would also jeopardise his prime ministership and his far-right ruling coalition.
