National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) called on Monday for targeted assassinations of Palestinian Authority officials, whom he called “terrorists,” if the United Nations Security Council approved the US-proposed Gaza international stabilization force resolution in its current form.
Opposition MKs also slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the resolution’s potential advancement.
The political storm among right-wing and left-wing ministers and MKs alike was centered around the fact that the resolution mentions a “path to Palestinian statehood.”
Ben-Gvir said that if the resolution was advanced, “targeted assassinations of senior Palestinian Authority officials, who are terrorists for all intents and purposes, should be ordered.”
Ben-Gvir demands detention of Abbas
In his remarks at the Knesset, he demanded that Netanyahu detain the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. Ben-Gvir said that once Abbas was arrested, he would “take care of him” in Israel’s prisons.
“I appeal to Netanyahu: Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] and his terrorist friends must know that they have no immunity,” he said.
“We are witnessing the return of the discourse surrounding the establishment of a Palestinian state. Today, it may receive another boost in the UN Council. The invented people called the Palestinian people must not have a state,” Ben-Gvir continued.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) said that “the planned path to a Palestinian state will not happen,” during his own remarks at the Knesset on Monday.
“My life’s mission is to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of our land,” he said. “There are dozens of Arab states, and there are also several European countries that could be suitable for that, but not here.”
“Here is where the Jewish state was established, and here is where it will continue to exist with full sovereignty. For years, I have been working hard to kill the idea of a Palestinian state in practice, and with God’s help, I intend to continue doing so with full force,” he added.
Opposition politicians slammed the potential signing of the resolution as they delivered separate remarks at the Knesset on Monday.
Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) said that the advancement of the resolution demonstrates that “other countries disregard Israel,” marking a failure on the government’s part.
Yisrael Beytenu chairperson MK Avigdor Liberman described Israel as being “in the midst of a liquidation sale.”
Liberman also said that the resolution’s presentation at the UN was carried out “entirely with the knowledge, consent, and full coordination of the prime minister.”
“I am hearing briefings that if normalization occurs, there will be no objection to Saudi Arabia arming itself with the F-35 aircraft,” Liberman added. “This is absolute madness and completely contrary to the position of the IDF and professional experts. This is a dramatic change in the balance of power in the Middle East.”
The text of the US-proposed resolution introduces several substantive changes from the first draft aimed at defining the framework for Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, ensuring demilitarization, and establishing international oversight of the post-war transition.
Notably, the main change centers on the IDF’s withdrawal, which would occur only after “a verified demilitarization” and proceed “in coordination with the United States and regional Arab states.”
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.