In the text of the resolution, which was adopted by 68 to 9 votes on Wednesday evening, a Palestinian state is referred to as an existential threat to Israel, writes Haaretz.
– The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of Israel will pose an existential threat to the state of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region, it says.
The resolution was put forward by opposition politician Gideon Saar, who leads the centre-right party New Hope.
Benny Gantz, who earlier this year left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, also voted in favor.
Signal to the outside world
According to Saar, the resolution is an expression of what most Israelis think and a signal to the outside world that “the pressure to impose a Palestinian state on Israel is futile”.
145 of the UN’s 193 member states have now recognized Palestine as an independent state, including Norway.
Norway received harsh Israeli criticism when the decision on recognition was announced in May, and a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) is not welcome in the country.
– We have enough Jew haters
– I have registered that Norway’s foreign minister wants to visit Israel, and to that I just have to say that he is not welcome, David Mencer told TV 2.
– Norway, we have enough Jew-haters locally in Hamas in Gaza, we don’t need to import their supporters from abroad, he said.
Mencer further claimed that Norway has not condemned Hamas for the attack once morest southern Israel on 7 October, to which Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre reacts strongly.
– It is completely wrong that Norway has not condemned Hamas. That is a gross claim. Israel knows this is wrong, he said Wednesday evening.
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2024-07-19 02:01:35
