Netanyahu vows no Palestinian state, and no ‘entity that finances terror’ in post-war Gaza

In a video statement that is sure to heighten tensions with the Biden administration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turns to the “day after,” insisting that Israel will achieve “total victory,” after which, “there will be no entity in Gaza that finances terrorism, educates for terrorism or sends our terror.”

Netanyahu demands that Gaza be demilitarized under Israel’s full security control.

“I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan,” he says, repeating a position that has put him at odds with Washington’s desire to see movement toward a Palestinian state after the war in Gaza. “As prime minister, I stood firm on this position in the face of heavy international and domestic pressures.”

In so doing, Netanyahu takes credit for preventing a Palestinian state over the years: “My insistence is what for years prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state that would have constituted an existential danger to Israel,” he says.

“As long as I am prime minister, I will continue to firmly stand by this,” he pledges. “If someone has a different position, let them show leadership and state their position honestly to the citizens of Israel.”