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The Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, warned against dragging the Palestinians into what he called empty negotiations, in light of the talk about a future Palestinian state that was rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Earlier, the Israeli government unanimously approved a draft resolution not to recognize a unilateral Palestinian state, and Netanyahu said that “Israel rejects international dictates” related to this file.

This came in the context of Netanyahu's response to what the United States and European countries announced that they were considering recognizing an independent Palestinian state, in a proactive step that would pave the way for the implementation of the two-state solution.

Al-Barghouti asked - in his interview with the program “Gaza... What’s next?” Regarding the content of this future state, he warned against the model of the Oslo Accords, saying, “May God not let us enter this calamity again.” He believed that Oslo's biggest sin was that it signed without stopping settlement. He added, "We will not be dragged into negotiations that are empty of substance and will not lead to results again."

Regarding the Israeli government’s refusal to recognize a unilateral Palestinian state, Barghouti wondered whether the American administration would take punitive measures against Israel and put pressure on it, or is “the story of the Palestinian state an illusion to justify Israeli normalization with the Arab environment?”

Professor of political science at An-Najah University and expert on Israeli affairs, Dr. Raed Nairat, was not surprised by the rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state by the Netanyahu government, who has repeatedly declared his rejection of this state, and confirmed in his book “A Place Under the Sun” that he does not recognize the existence of the Palestinian people as a culture and identity.

Nairat pointed out that there was a state of marriage between right-wing thought and Zionism, which led to the rejection of the Palestinian presence, pointing out that there were statements that explicitly said that the solution was to displace, exile, or kill the Palestinians. Even the Palestinian National Authority, despite its weakness, the Israelis are not satisfied with it because it “constitutes the title of sovereignty for the Palestinians.” .

25 thousand Palestinians witnessed the Friday prayers before last at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque (Al-Jazeera)

American pressure

As for the former US State Department official, Dr. William Lawrence, he acknowledged that the administration of President Joe Biden is not putting enough pressure on the Israeli government, stressing that Netanyahu’s statements regarding the Palestinian state are not welcome to his country.

In what was considered optimistic about a change in the Israeli position, the American guest said that Netanyahu announced in 2008 that he accepted the establishment of a Palestinian state despite declaring his rejection of it in his book.

While stressing the necessity of a ceasefire in Gaza, Lawrence believed that negotiations to establish a Palestinian state could be based on the Oslo model, “which can be revived,” saying that the Palestinians have the right to live in dignity, and that the president’s administration must press to achieve this.

Regarding the proposal of Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to restrict the entry of Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan, the program’s guests unanimously agreed that this proposal - which Netanyahu approved, according to what was reported on Israeli Channel 13 - would lead to aggravation of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The professor of political science at An-Najah University spoke about the Israeli policy towards the city of Jerusalem, where it is making attempts to Judaize and exploiting the “post-October 7, 2023” situation in order to intensify its attempts.

Source: Al Jazeera