Victor Ekong
Benny Gantz said the Palestinians deserved their own “entity” and could have a capital in Jerusalem.
Speaking in an interview with the Saudi newspaper, Asharq al-Awsat, the Alternate Prime Minister of Israel Benny Gantz said:
…Palestinians want and deserve an entity in which they can live independently”
“A state or an empire, they can call it whatever they want. It is their right to feel independence and have a capital…”
In an interview with the Israeli press, Gantz said:
“We want a Palestinian entity which has appropriate territorial contiguity, which makes it possible to live comfortably within it without obstacles or hindrances.
What we insist on is security. We need strategic observation points for security,” Gantz said.
Benny Gantz also made shocking comments on Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem must remain united – but with a place within it for a Palestinian capital,” When pressed to clarify what he meant, he said only that, “[Jerusalem] is a very spacious city, and full of holy sites for all.”
Gantz has supported President Trump’s peace plan but Gantz did not connect his comments to it.
President Trump referred to Abu Dis, a small city on the outskirts of Jerusalem, in his peace plan as the future capital of a Palestinian state.
Former Jerusalem mayor and current Likud MK Nir Barkat reacted to the comments.
“Jerusalem is the capital of only one nation, It is the capital of the eternal Jewish people,’ and it is “the capital of the State of Israel,” The Jerusalem Post quoted Barkat as saying.
Gantz called on Abbas to join the “path of peace” laid by other Arab states who have decided to normalize ties with Israel in recent months.
The Palestinians have publicly lamented the ongoing normalization as a betrayal of their cause.
Gantz’s interview also comes less than a week after the announcement that Morocco has agreed to normalize ties with Israel, becoming the fourth country since August to do so, following the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.
Top US officials have said it’s “inevitable” that Saudi Arabia will join, though the kingdom has said a resolution for the Palestinians must come first.
