International Israeli parliament votes against Palestinian state

Israel's parliament has once again spoken out against the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The majority of MPs voted in favor of a resolution rejecting the establishment of a state, as the parliament announced. According to the information provided, this included the parties of the right-wing religious coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as the opposition party of Benny Gantz, which according to polls would become the strongest party in new elections and win the most seats in parliament.

and is likely to win the most seats in parliament. Until just under six weeks ago, Gantz was a member of the now dissolved war cabinet together with other moderate politicians.

"The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel would pose an existential threat to the State of Israel and its citizens," the resolution stated. "It will only be a matter of a short time before Hamas takes over the Palestinian state and turns it into a radical Islamic terror base." The latter will work to destroy the state of Israel.

US Democrats back two-state solution

68 of the 120 MPs voted in favor of the resolution, nine members of Arab parties voted against. The rest were absent or abstained. The liberal Future Party of opposition leader Yair Lapid, for example, reportedly did not vote. Lapid is considered a supporter of a two-state solution. This means that an independent, democratic and peaceful Palestinian state should exist alongside Israel.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu himself was not present at the vote. The vote confirmed the parliament's previous stance and has no concrete consequences, but could be seen as a provocation shortly before Netanyahu's visit to the USA.

The move is likely to anger the US Democrats, who are calling for a two-state solution, wrote the Israeli newspaper "The Times of Israel". Netanyahu is due to give a speech to the US Congress on the Gaza war on July 24.

The parliament had already spoken out against "unilateral recognition" of a Palestinian state in February. The media had reported at the time that the USA and other allies could also recognize a Palestinian state without Israel's consent.