Dr. Erakat’s response to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Knesset Speech

In response to incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the Knesset today, Dr Erakat said: “Benjamin Netanyahu failed to endorse the two-state solution. He failed to explicitly support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. He made only vague commitments to continuing negotiations. He offered nothing new.”

“What we got from Netanyahu was the promise of more 'process’ without a clearly defined end goal, and a reference to Palestinians governing themselves. For Palestinians, that means the establishment of an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. For Netanyahu, it means something very different.”

“When Netanyahu talks of an economic peace, he is not talking about ending Israel’s occupation, but finding a way to better manage and normalize it. Instead of a viable Palestinian state, he is offering Palestinians nothing more than a series of disconnected cantons with limited self-rule,” Dr Erakat said.

“The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not an economic conflict, it is a conflict generated by Israel’s occupation. Without a political settlement first between Palestinians and Israelis, talk of an economic peace is redundant.”

“Israel’s settlement activities, its continued construction of the Wall, and its regime of checkpoints, roadblocks and other restrictions on Palestinian movement, have all turned Palestinian towns and cities into prisons, crippling Palestinian life and strangling the Palestinian economy.”

“We had hoped to hear from Benjamin Netanyahu a commitment to the two-state solution, to negotiations on all core issues without exception, including Jerusalem, to stopping all settlement activities including natural growth, and to lifting the siege on Gaza as well as all restrictions on Palestinian movement in line with Israel’s obligations, and consistent with international law.”

“Netanyahu had an opportunity to set the stage for meaningful negotiations to end the conflict and to show that he is a real partner for peace. He missed that opportunity.”