Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should selectively kill Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders and arrest President Mahmoud Abbas if the UN Security Council votes to recognize a Palestinian state, Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir has directly threatened.
“If they accelerate the process of recognizing this rogue state, if the UN recognizes it (the Palestinian state), then Prime Minister, you should order the selective killing of senior Palestinian Authority (PA) officials, who are terrorists in every way. And you must order the arrest of Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas),” Ben-Gavir said at a press conference in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
The Middle East Eye newspaper reported that Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gavir made the remarks ahead of a vote on Monday at the UN Security Council to approve the US peace plan for Gaza.
The latest version of the peace plan mentions the possibility of a future Palestinian state, which was not in the previous draft. The Palestinian Authority (PA) strongly condemned Ben-Gavir’s comments.
“Such comments by Israeli officials are a regular provocation. They reveal a political attitude that rejects peace and threatens regional and international security,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on social media.
The ministry also called on the international community to take effective steps to hold Ben-Gavir accountable for such comments.
Israeli leaders have consistently rejected the possibility of a future Palestinian state.
“Our position against the establishment of a Palestinian state on any territory has not changed,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting last Sunday.
