Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should recognize Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank following recognition of a Palestinian state by the UK, Canada, Portugal, and Australia on Sunday, according to right-wing cabinet ministers and organizations.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) said recognition of a Palestinian state was “a reward to the murderous Nukhba terrorists.”
The decision “requires immediate countermeasures,” including “the immediate application of sovereignty” in the West Bank and the “complete dismantling of the so-called Palestinian Authority,” he said.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) also called for West Bank sovereignty.
MK Ohad Tal (Religious Zionist Party) called for “full Israeli sovereignty over our entire biblical homeland.”
“The recognition of this fake state will do nothing but push peace further away and reward the terrorists of the crooked Palestinian Authority, who even the Arabs of Judea and Samaria are sick and tired of,” he told The Jerusalem Post.
The Yesha Council (the umbrella organization representing communities in the West Bank) convened an emergency meeting and sent an urgent demand to Netanyahu for a late-night emergency meeting.
“A government that does not respond by applying broad sovereignty to the declarations of a terrorist state in the heart of the country will lose its right to exist,” it said in a statement.
Efrat Council Chairman Dovi Shefler criticized the three countries’ decision to recognize a Palestinian state and called for Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.
“In response to the statements by Britain, Canada, and Australia about recognizing the national fiction of the Arab terrorist gangs in Judea and Samaria, I recall that the United Kingdom and its colonies have apparently forgotten that the British Mandate ended here 77 years ago, and in the Land of Israel, only one state was established between the Jordan and the sea,” he wrote.
“What the British government still does not understand, after [the] October 7 [massacre], the British people understand well,” he added. “Our answer is firm: Israeli sovereignty from the sea to the Jordan. Because we are objects of life!”
Israeli politicians slam UK, Australia, Canada for recognizing Palestinian state
Netanyahu said Israel’s official response would come after he returns from his trip to the United States.
“I have a clear message to those leaders who recognize a Palestinian state after the horrific massacre of October 7: You are granting a huge prize to terror,” Netanyahu said. “And I have another message for you: It will not happen. There will not be a Palestinian state west of the Jordan.
“For years, I have prevented the establishment of this terror state despite enormous pressure both at home and abroad. We did so with determination and with diplomatic wisdom. All the more so, we doubled Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria – and we will continue on this path.”
Other Israeli politicians and officials condemned the trilateral recognition, while some opposition MKs criticized the Netanyahu government for a “diplomatic failure.”
Israel “categorically rejects the one-sided declaration” of a Palestinian state, the Foreign Ministry said, adding that the decision “undermines the chances of achieving a peaceful solution in the future.”
“This move goes against all logic of negotiation and reaching a compromise between two sides, and it will push the desired peace further away,” it said.
“Political gestures aimed at a domestic voting audience only harm the Middle East and are not helpful,” the Foreign Ministry said. “Instead, if the countries that signed this declaration truly wish to stabilize the region, they should focus on pressuring Hamas to release the hostages and to disarm immediately.”
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana (Likud) criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying he was a “modern-day appeaser who chose disgrace.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) said: “A functioning Israeli government could have prevented this through smart and serious work, professional diplomatic discourse, and proper public diplomacy.”
Former National Unity MK and IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Gadi Eisenkot (Yashar Party) attributed the declarations of support for a Palestinian state to “a resounding diplomatic failure by the government and Netanyahu, who failed to translate military achievements in a just war into political gains, turning it into a political collapse.”
The world “is focused on this folly,” while “our hostages are languishing in Hamas tunnels,” he said.
“Dealing with a Palestinian state at this time, after [the] October 7 [massacre], is folly and a reward for terrorism,” Eisenkot said.
The Democrats chairman Yair Golan said the Palestinian state declaration a “severe diplomatic failure” by Netanyahu and Smotrich.
“This is the direct result of Netanyahu’s diplomatic negligence: his refusal to end the war and his dangerous choice of occupation and annexation,” he said.
Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz said recognition of a Palestinian state after the October 7 massacre “strengthens Hamas and the entire Iranian axis, prolongs the war, and reduces the chances of returning the hostages.”
Anna Barsky and Avraham Bloch contributed to this report.