Knesset votes resoundingly against unilateral Palestinian state recognition
99 MKs back adoption of symbolic declaration
championed by PM; despite voting in favor, Lapid calls measure a
distraction, says unilateral recognition not a threat
The Knesset voted on Wednesday to back Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration
opposing any “unilateral” recognition of a Palestinian state, as
international calls grow for the revival of efforts to reach a two-state
solution to the decades-long conflict.
Issued amid the war in Gaza between Israel and the Hamas terror
group, the symbolic declaration also received backing from members of
the opposition, with 99 of 120 lawmakers voting in support, the Knesset
spokesperson said.
The Israeli position says that any permanent accord with the
Palestinians must be reached through direct negotiations between the
sides and not by international dictates.
“The Knesset came together in an overwhelming majority against the
attempt to impose on us the establishment of a Palestinian state, which
would not only fail to bring peace but would endanger the State of
Israel,” said Netanyahu.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who voted for the resolution, told
lawmakers that despite his support he does not believe that there was
any intent on the American side to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian
state.
“As you know, my connections with the Americans are better than
yours, so I checked. There’s no such thing. You invented a threat that
doesn’t exist. What are we talking about? There is not one official in
the world that suggested unilateral recognition of the Palestinians,” he
said.
Lapid characterized the debate as a distraction so the Knesset would
not discuss contentious legislation backed by the government.
![]()
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid leads a Yesh Atid faction meeting at the Knesset on February 19, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The vote drew condemnation from the Palestinian Authority’s Foreign
Ministry, which accused Israel of holding the rights of the Palestinian
people hostage by controlling territories where Palestinians seek to
establish a state.
“The ministry reaffirms that the State of Palestine’s full membership
in the United Nations and its recognition by other nations does not
require permission from Netanyahu,” it said in a statement.
Netanyahu brought the vote to the Knesset in the wake of reports that
the US and several Arab partners were preparing a detailed plan for a
comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians that
includes a “firm timeline” for a Palestinian state.
A cabinet motion
Sunday characterized such a move as a “reward to terrorism” in the wake
of Hamas’s October 7 massacre of southern communities, which sparked
the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
![]()
File: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(2-L) heads the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel
Aviv on January 7, 2024. (RONEN ZVULUN / POOL / AFP)
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew later downplayed talk of such a move
by the Biden administration, instead calling for an “over-the-horizon
process that includes a vision for a demilitarized Palestinian state.
“Now is a moment in time when there is a real possibility that by
engaging in normalization and negotiations with Saudi Arabia” along with
reforms in the Palestinian Authority, “there can be a demilitarized
Palestinian state. But Israel will have to make that choice,” Lew said.
Netanyahu has in the past spoken out against the creation of a
Palestinian state and others have also pushed back against comments from
Washington and elsewhere suggesting that talks on ending fighting in
Gaza sparked by Hamas’s brutal rampage through southern Israel on
October 7 be used to jumpstart long-moribund efforts to reach a
two-state solution.
While some international actors believe the violence only underlines
the need for a peace deal, Israeli leaders argue the attack highlighted
the extreme danger of an autonomous Palestinian entity near its
population centers. And amid soaring support for Hamas among
Palestinians in the wake of the atrocities, there appears to be little
appetite in the Israeli public for peace efforts.
