Smotrich: We will not allow a Palestinian state regardless of challenges

Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said his government will not allow cities inside Israel to become similar to what he described as “Gaza border areas,” saying Israeli security requires decisive steps to prevent any similar threat.

Smotrich said the U.S. administration supports the Israeli position of eliminating what he called “the idea of establishing a Palestinian state,” stressing that this approach enjoys implicit international backing.

He said imposing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank is a necessary and realistic step to confront what he described as a “political attack” against Israel on the international stage, and to prevent the emergence of “a Palestinian terrorist state seeking to destroy us.”

“We will not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state whatever the challenges; it constitutes an existential threat to Israel and cannot be accepted under any circumstances,” the Israeli minister added.

Smotrich concluded his remarks by saying “the Palestinian Authority will be annihilated if it dares to raise its head and harm us,” he said.