Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several top members of his cabinet reiterated their firm rejection of a Palestinian state on Sunday, just hours before the UN Security Council is set to vote on a resolution supporting a US-backed peace roadmap for Gaza.
The resolution, expected to go before the council on Monday, builds on the ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump between Israel and Hamas.
It seeks to authorize the next phase of the plan, which includes establishing a transitional administration in Gaza and deploying a temporary international security force to stabilize the war-ravaged enclave.
However, unlike earlier drafts, the latest version of the resolution references the prospect of a future Palestinian state — a clause that has drawn strong backlash from the Israeli government.
“Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any territory has not changed,” Netanyahu declared during a cabinet meeting, insisting Israel would not shift its long-held position.
His comments come amid growing criticism from within his coalition.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a leading figure of the far-right bloc, had accused the prime minister of not responding forcefully enough to recent decisions by several Western countries to recognize Palestinian statehood.
In a post on X, Smotrich urged Netanyahu to take “a decisive response” that would make Israel’s stance unmistakably clear: “No Palestinian state will ever arise on the lands of our homeland.”
Netanyahu, in turn, rebuffed the pressure, stating he did “not need affirmations, tweets, or lectures from anyone.”
Other ministers echoed the hardline position. Defence Minister Israel Katz insisted on X that “no Palestinian state will be established,” while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned that Israel would “not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian terror state in the heart of the Land of Israel.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir went even further, dismissing the idea of a Palestinian nation entirely, calling the identity an “invention.”
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The pending Security Council vote marks a pivotal moment in the US-led diplomatic push to solidify the ceasefire that halted more than two years of hostilities triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
Under the first phase of the agreement, Hamas has released the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages and transferred the bodies of nearly all 28 captives who were killed.
In return, Israel freed close to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and repatriated 330 bodies.
The next stage — contingent on the Security Council’s approval — would advance efforts to administer and secure Gaza under international oversight as negotiations continue on broader political issues.