Only two months after Israel's new long-awaited government was formed, the Israeli Minister of Interior Ayelet Shaked has threatened to quit the coalition, jeopardizing its success.
Last week FM Lapid said he could advance a two state solution when he is PM in 2 years so Bennett's colleague Ayelet Shaked made clear the party would leave govt if he tried. This is convenient for all sides https://t.co/RAvecwwy75
— Mairav Zonszein מרב זונשיין (@MairavZ) August 22, 2021
Representing her right-wing political party, Yamina, Ayelet Shaked has expressed the party's unwillingness to be part of the current coalition in case an Israeli government is open to Palestinian statehood. Shaked's statements came in response to remarks made earlier by the Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, in which he did not oppose "discussing a future Palestinian state."
Last week, alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who is expected to lead the Israeli government in two years, told Channel 11 that "a two-state resolution could be advanced when the government rotates in two years' time," admitting that the current Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett is strongly against this conversation.
Following Lapid's remarks, Yamina's leader told a local radio channel that her political party "will not be part of a government that advances Palestinian statehood."
A deal for a two-state resolution to the Israeli-#Palestinian conflict cannot be finalized while this #government is led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Thursday.
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) August 20, 2021
https://t.co/ADb49sLe26
Despite multiple Palestinian-Israeli agreements recognizing the right of Palestinians to an independent state within the borders of 1967, including the 1993 Oslo Accords and the 2003 Road Map to Peace, both promoted by the US, consecutive Israeli governments since 2009 have been rejecting the notion of a Palestinian state, which has resulted in a complete pause of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians ever since.
For more than a decade now, Israel has been expanding its settlement activities within the occupied West Bank, which has urged numerous international parties to warn of the possible unviability of the two-state solution moving forward.
#BREAKING Two-state solution "the only answer" for Palestinians, President Joe Biden said Friday, as he pledged to organized international help to "rebuild Gaza" pic.twitter.com/TiYdjuF6on
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 21, 2021
Expectations of increased US pressure of Israel to explore the potential of a Palestinian state have been on the rise since the Joe Biden administration announced its commitment to a two-state solution between Palestinians and Israelis; an option that was dismissed by the former Trump administration between 2017-2021. Consequently, political commentators are linking the current debate between Lapid and Shaked to the approaching first-ever meeting between Naftali Bennet and Joe Biden later this week.
