Yamina to quit government if Lapid advances Palestinian state

 

The Yamina Party will quit the government if Foreign Minister Yair Lapid advances Palestinian statehood when he replaces Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked warned on Sunday.

“There will not be a Palestinian state in a government that we [Yamina] are party to,” said Shaked, who is a member of Bennett’s Yamina Party.

There is an agreement that this government will not deal with divisive matters such as this one, Shaked told the KAN News radio program.

Last week Lapid told KAN’s television station Channel 11 that a two-state resolution could be advanced when the government rotates in two years’ time, but until then nothing can happen on this matter because Bennett doesn’t support it.

The question of two states has suddenly resurfaced in the headlines because Bennett is due to meet with US President Joe Biden later in the week.

What happens if Biden asks Bennett to support a two-state resolution to the conflict? KAN asked.

“He will say that he is opposed,” Shaked said, adding, “This is nothing new. Bennett’s opinion is known. We [Yamina] are opposed to a Palestinian state – and even President Biden knows Bennett’s opinion.”

Shaked said she believed the meeting would deal primarily with Iran and the COVID-19 pandemic.

KAN asked what would happen if Biden simply waits until Bennett leaves and then moves forward on two states with Lapid?

“There won’t be a government,” Shaked said. “This is known both to Lapid and to the left-wing partners” in the coalition.”

“The topic of the Palestinians is not the most burning issue on the agenda, not even for the President,” said Shaked.

In contrast to what Shaked said, the White House has been clear that the Palestinian issue will be on the agenda along with Iran.

Biden believes in a two-state resolution to the conflict based on the pre-1967 lines but has not put forward any initiative for the resumption of an Israeli-Palestinian peace process.