Israelis strongly disapprove of installing Palestinian Authority in Gaza’: Netanyahu

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his opposition on Sunday to putting the Palestinian Authority in charge of Gaza after the war ends, stressing that “the overwhelming majority of Israelis” agree with him and support his policies.

His remarks came in an interview with the Politico news website.

Israelis say that “once we have eliminated Hamas, the last thing we should do is bring the Palestinian Authority into Gaza, which educates its children in terrorism and finances terrorism,” he said.

Netanyahu added that Israelis support his position that “we should resoundingly reject the attempt to ram down our throats a Palestinian state.”

“The majority of Israelis understand that if we don’t do this, what we will have is a repetition of the October 7 massacre, which is bad for Israel, bad for the Palestinians, and bad for the future of peace in the Middle East.”

This is not the first time that Netanyahu has expressed his opposition to allowing the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza.

In response to recent statements made by US President Joe Biden in an interview with the US cable TV channel MSNBC, in which he accused Netanyahu of “hurting Israel more than helping Israel,” the latter commented: “I don’t know exactly what the president meant, but if he meant by that that I’m pursuing private policies against the wish of the majority of Israelis and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he’s wrong on both counts.”

“These are not my private policies only,” Netanyahu continued. “They are policies supported by the overwhelming majority of Israelis.”

Recently, reports supported by official statements have increased about tensions between Washington and Tel Aviv over Israel obstructing the reaching of an agreement with Hamas for a cease-fire and prisoner exchange and on the large number of civilian casualties in the war on Gaza despite repeated warnings and calls to reduce their number.

But experts have attributed the shift in the US tone to the battle for the presidency in upcoming November elections, where it is feared that Biden's blind support for Israel, coinciding with images coming out of Gaza of war crimes, will lead to a decline in his popularity, especially in Muslim-majority states.

The Israel’s evasion of the two-state solution and any negotiations that may lead to it has faced criticism even from its Western allies, who consider that the Middle East will only enjoy peace if this solution is implemented and an independent state is established for the Palestinians alongside Israel.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 people were killed.

Nearly 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 72,500 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala