Let’s get this straight. The Trump-like authoritarian leaning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu along with his extreme right governing partners, including fringe religious nationalists, Jewish supremacists and settler activists, have never been supporters of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Many have been calling for the relocation of all Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank to other countries, or even, for their outright elimination.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is finally declaring this policy out loud, hoping that it resonates with the Israeli public who have been supportive of Israel’s war efforts against Hamas in Gaza, despite the widespread anger against him because of his failure in leading an unpopular attempted autocratic coup against Israel’s judiciary, and then there’s his colossal failure under his leadership in preventing the Oct 7th Hamas attack on Israelis despite the Israeli government having been in possession of ample, accurate detailed, timely intelligence data gathered from their allies and from within.

It doesn’t help that the popular support for Israel’s war in Gaza is due in part, to local media outlets having voluntary acted to ensure that most Israelis are sheltered from viewing TV images/ news reports regarding the devastation that’s happening in Gaza.

The two below Guardian articles tell the story of the Israeli prime minister’s long held stance against a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, despite any past word parsing rhetoric stating otherwise.

As per the January 18, 2024 Guardian report, “Netanyahu tells US he opposes creation of Palestinian state after Gaza war”by Peter Beaumont:

“In a nationally broadcast news conference, Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with the offensive until Israel realised a “decisive victory over Hamas”. He said he had relayed his rejection of a Palestinian state to the US.”

“In any future arrangement … Israel needs security control of all territory west of the Jordan [River],” Netanyahu told a nationally broadcast news conference. “This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do?”

“Netanyahu, whose political support has collapsed since Hamas’s 7 October surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 Israelis and other nationals, appeared to explicitly tie his own political survival to that of Israel.”

“The day after Netanyahu,” he said. “It’s the day after most of Israel’s citizens. For 30 years, I have been consistent, saying one simple thing: this conflict is not about a lack of a state, but about the existence of a state.”

“He added: “The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends.”

“In a statement issued later to coincide with a meeting of his war cabinet, Netanyahu warned the war would take months and promised “total victory over Hamas.”

“Victory will yet take many long months, but we are determined to achieve it….

“Israel under my leadership will not compromise on less than total victory over Hamas, and we will win. I say this again, so that no one will be in doubt: We are striving for total victory, not just ‘to strike Hamas’ or ‘to hurt Hamas’, not ‘another round with Hamas’ but total victory over Hamas.”

“The US had been urging Israel to scale back its offensive in Gaza and had been pushing for an end to the phase of major fighting. It said the establishment of a Palestinian state should be part of the “day after.”

“Netanyahu’s explicit rejection of a Palestinian state is also likely to complicate support for Israel among other countries, not least in Europe, who have long backed the two-state solution envisaged in the Oslo agreements.”

“It will also undermine Israel’s attempts to normalise relations with countries in the Middle East that have long backed Palestinian statehood.”

“More than 100 days after Hamas triggered the war with its attack, Israel continues to wage one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, with the stated goal of dismantling the militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007 and returning scores of captives. The war has stoked tensions across the region, threatening to ignite other conflicts.”

“More than 24,600 Palestinians have been killed, 85% of the narrow coastal territory’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes, and the United Nations says a quarter of the population are starving.”

Aluf Benn predicted much of authoritarian type behavior of the Israeli Prime Minister in his December 29, 2023 Haaretz report, “Analysis/ This is Netanyahu’s Dream State: Racist, Religious and Authoritarian:”

Excerpts:

“Benjamin Netanyahu will return to the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday to take apart and put together the state of Israel, which from now on will be more racist, religious and authoritarian.”

“In recent weeks, as details of the coalition agreements Likud signed with the ultra-Orthodox parties and the radical right leaked, Netanyahu was described as a victim of extortion. His moves since his election victory were reminiscent of the phrase he once coined against the Oslo Accords: “It’s not a negotiation of give and take, it’s give and give.”

“Suddenly the strong man in his own eyes consents to (almost) every whim, initiative and sub-clause raised by his partners (and) that he would rule and he would decide, because only he can make the rightists’ dreams come true and at the same time protect the leftists from them. He’s in the middle.”

“It’s easy to be tempted and cling to the desperate hope that Netanyahu represents some moderate, liberal line in the extreme rightist coalition, and that the frightening agreements he signed would be filed away and not used. That in a moment a peace agreement will be signed with Saudi Arabia, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and Avi Maoz will be thrown out of the government and replaced by Benny Gantz and his colleagues.”

“There’s no doubt Netanyahu can betray any partner. His coalition colleagues know that well – that’s why they demanded the “liar son of a liar” pay in advance and pass the laws that would grant them powers before the government was sworn in. But the political maneuvers are merely the decoration. Netanyahu has been dreaming of this revolution for many years, ever since he spoke yearningly of replacing the elites, changing the academic and intellectual discourse and weakening the status of the army and general staff.”

“He failed to do it in the first round. After his defeat in 1999 and his return to power a decade later, Netanyahu tried to get the center and the business community to like him, although he always stuck to his religious and right-wing base and didn’t try to enlist voters left of Likud.”

“Now, in his second comeback, Netanyahu has a chance to realize his old fantasy and land a knockout to liberal democratic Israel, that hoped to resemble the Western states (albeit only within the Green Line, and with promises that didn’t come true to establish a Palestinian state on the other side of the line).”