Hotovely: Take Palestinian State Off The Agenda

Member of the Knesset Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) said on Sunday that in the wake of Friday night’s massacre of the Fogel family in Itamar, the idea of a Palestinian state must be taken off the agenda.

“The Itamar attack should be an event that causes soul-searching within the government and a significant change of direction in relation to the Palestinian Authority,” Hotovely said during an interview with Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew website.

Hotovely welcomed the government’s decision, which was made following the Itamar murders, to approve construction of five hundred new housing units in major population centers in Judea and Samaria. She defined the decision as one that goes in the right direction, but added that it is not enough. “Hundreds of housing units in the so-called settlement blocs is not a statement that clearly strengthens our hold in the country,” she said.

Hotovely said that she expects Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “to strengthen the construction in Itamar in particular and in Judea and Samaria in general, and more importantly – to announce that a Palestinian state is not on the agenda. A Palestinian state means more cases like Itamar.”

As for the political positions expressed by Netanyahu, which are often similar to those of Kadima, Hotovely said that given the pressure on Prime Minister both from the direction of the left-wing ministers, the world and from Likud ministers as Dan Meridor and Michael Eitan, there should also be pressure on him from the right and a demand that he return to the principles of the Likud.

“There are many people in the Likud who know that a Palestinian state would be a disaster,” said Hotovely.
“We must return to basic principles of the Likud and demand our right to the land. I expect Netanyahu to return to these principles and announce that construction will take place in all parts of Judea and Samaria.”
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