November 16, 2025 10:39 PM IST
First published on: Nov 16, 2025 at 08:30 PM IST
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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses lawmakers in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem. (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s position against creating a Palestinian state “has not changed”, after far-right members of his government criticised a US-supported statement at the United Nations that pointed to a possible pathway to Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu commented on Sunday, two days after the United States Israel’s main ally and several Muslim-majority countries backed a draft UN Security Council resolution supporting President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
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The proposal outlines steps for reconstruction and administration in Gaza and says that, if reforms are made within the Palestinian Authority, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”, according to the text cited by Reuters.
Far-right pressure on Netanyahu
Those references to potential statehood drew anger from far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who had opposed the Trump-brokered October ceasefire in Gaza. Ben-Gvir warned he could leave the coalition unless Netanyahu rejected any suggestion of Palestinian independence.
On Sunday Netanyahu said, “Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory has not changed. Gaza will be demilitarised and Hamas will be disarmed, the easy way or the hard way. I do not need affirmations, tweets or lectures from anyone,” Reuters reported.
A walkout by far-right parties could threaten the stability of Netanyahu’s coalition before the next election, due by October 2026.
Defence Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also posted messages opposing a Palestinian state on X, without directly naming the prime minister.
UN negotiations and Western recognition moves
The 15-member Security Council began talks on the draft resolution on 7 November. It would authorise Trump’s proposal for a “Board of Peace” to oversee Gaza’s transition, including reconstruction and economic recovery.
Netanyahu had endorsed Trump’s plan during a September visit to the White House but had not restated his position on statehood until Sunday.
The prime minister had earlier said he would respond to decisions by countries such as France, which recognised a Palestinian state in September. Smotrich on Saturday accused Netanyahu of delaying that response and urged him to “make clear to the entire world that a Palestinian state will never arise on the lands of our homeland”, Reuters reported.
War toll and ceasefire
More than 69,000 people were killed in Gaza during two years of Israeli airstrikes and ground operations, according to local health authorities. The war began after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures.
The ceasefire agreed on 10 October remains in place, though sporadic violence continues.
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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses lawmakers in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem. (AP) 
