Prime Minister Netanyahu once again denied the idea of "two-state coexistence."
We are becoming increasingly isolated in the international community.
The United States' ally, the White House, said it had a "different view" from Israel, and British Defense Secretary Shapps said he was "disappointed" with Israel's position.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also called Prime Minister Netanyahu's ideas ``unacceptable'' and emphasized that ``the right of the Palestinian people to establish a state is recognized.''
Why hasn't Prime Minister Netanyahu changed his stance of denying the coexistence of two nations?
An explanation from caster Asami Mochizuki.
*This is the content that was broadcast on “Catch! World Top News” on January 22nd and 23rd.
*The video is 12 minutes and 11 seconds long and cannot be viewed on data broadcasting.
Even under these circumstances, it is unlikely that Prime Minister Netanyahu will change his stance of denying the coexistence of two states.
This is because it is directly connected to one's own political career.
Israel currently has a wartime cabinet in place, but Prime Minister Netanyahu's right-wing party, Likud, has originally formed a coalition government with far-right parties that call for the expulsion of Palestinians.
The New York Times mentions two of these ministers, Finance Minister Smotrich and National Security Minister Bengvir.
Both of them strongly oppose the coexistence of two countries.
The New York Times reports that experts say that if Prime Minister Netanyahu moves toward allowing the establishment of a Palestinian state, the two will move to dissolve their governing coalition.
On the other hand, the reality is that even among citizens, expectations for two-state coexistence are becoming less and less expressed year by year.
This is an opinion poll of Israelis conducted by the research company Gallup.
We are comparing the results of a survey conducted in 2012 and from mid-October to early December last year, after the conflict between Hamas and Israel began.
▼In 2012, 61% of people said they supported "two-state coexistence" and 30% said they did not support it, whereas in
last year's survey, 25% said they supported it, while 25% said they did not support it. It was reversed at 65%.
A similar trend was observed in a survey conducted among Palestinians.
In 2012, 59% of people said they supported it, while 40% said they did not support it.
However, in a survey conducted from July to September last year, before the Hamas attacks, approval dropped to 24%, while disapproval rose to 72%.
As Israel continues its settlement activities in the West Bank, and as armed conflicts between Israel and Hamas occur intermittently, public consciousness has changed over the past 10 years.
Foreign Affairs, an American diplomatic magazine, says that Israel's rejection of two-state coexistence poses an almost insurmountable challenge, but that failing to try to reach a negotiated solution could threaten the lives of Israelis and Palestinians. The suffering will be felt for generations to come.
While this military conflict has caused immeasurable casualties, there remains no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Israel faces increasing criticism both domestically and internationally
At a conference held by the EU, many countries called for peace with Israel through two-state coexistence.
However, even here, there seems to be no change in Israel's stance of denying the coexistence of two states.
Instead of discussing two-state coexistence, Israeli Foreign Minister Katz released a video at the meeting, media outlets reported.
The idea is to build an artificial island in the ocean approximately 5 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, and conduct inspections on humanitarian aid supplies brought into the Gaza Strip.
The video was first released around 2017, when Foreign Minister Katz was transport minister.
The New York Times reports that Foreign Minister Katz broadcast such a video at an EU meeting, surprising the foreign ministers gathered.
Furthermore, EU High Representative Borrell said, ``Perhaps there could have been a better use of time.'' Israel's continued denial of the coexistence of two states has been criticized by various countries.
Meanwhile, within Israel, there are increasing voices of criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu's hardline stance and calls for the release of the hostages.
Family members and supporters of the hostages packed a committee meeting in Israel's parliament on the 22nd to urge lawmakers to take immediate action to free the hostages.
``What if the hostages were lying on their backs while they were dying?''
It has been more than three months since the hostages were kidnapped by Hamas, and their families, who are worried about their safety, have been forced into an unbearable situation.
And in recent days, members of the current wartime cabinet and former government officials have said that the only way to safely recover the hostages is to negotiate with Hamas.
Under these circumstances, the American news site Axios reported on the 22nd, citing Israeli officials, that Israel is fighting for up to two months to fight against the Islamic group Hamas, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, in order to free all the hostages. I told him that I had proposed a suspension of the program.
The proposal is
that Hamas would first release hostages such as women, elderly men, and those in poor health, and
then gradually release other hostages and soldiers, and then
continue fighting until all were freed. will be suspended for a maximum of two months.
On the other hand, Israel has said that although it will reduce its operations after the fighting ceases, it has not agreed to an end to the fighting and has no intention of releasing all of the approximately 6,000 Palestinians it has detained.
Amid growing criticism both domestically and internationally against the Netanyahu administration, which has maintained its hard-line stance, attention will be focused on whether this will lead to a cessation of fighting and the release of hostages.