Palestinians: No settlers will be allowed to stay in our state

After Prime Minister's Office official is quoted as saying that Netanyahu thinks settlers should have right to remain in their homes in a Palestinian state, political firestorm erupts • PMO blasts Bennett for "irresponsible" response.

Shlomo Cesana, Mati Tuchfeld, The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

Should Israeli settlers have the right to remain in their homes in a future Palestinian state? | Photo credit: AFP

It may just have been a trial balloon, rather than a statement of intent, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's suggestion that Judea and Samaria settlers should have the right to remain in their homes even if they fall within the territory of a future Palestinian state after a peace deal is signed sparked a political firestorm on Sunday. Rightists expressed anger over the idea, leftists said it was unfeasible, and the Palestinians also dismissed it.

On Sunday, a Prime Minister's Office official was quoted as saying that Netanyahu believes all settlers should have the right to remain in their homes in a future Palestinian state.

"The prime minister believes that in peace, just as Israel has an Arab minority, there is no logical reason why the Palestinian state could not contain a Jewish minority and that Jews living in Judea and Samaria would be given the option to stay," the official said. "It should not be accepted a priori that in peace the Palestinian state must be ethnically cleansed."

Those statements followed Netanyahu's remarks in Davos, Switzerland on Friday in which he said that no Israelis would be uprooted in a peace deal with the Palestinians.

The Prime Minister Office official's quotes drew a fierce response from the Right.

"Never," Habayait Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett wrote on his Facebook page. "The idea of Jewish settlements under Palestinian sovereignty, as was suggested by someone in the Prime Minister's Office, is very dangerous and reflects an irrationality of values.

"We did not return to the land of Israel after 2,000 years of longing to live under the government of [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas.

"Whoever advocates for the idea of Jewish life in Israel under Palestinian rule is undermining our ability to sit in Tel Aviv.

"I call on the prime minister to immediately refute this dangerous proposal."

The Prime Minister's Office condemned Bennett's comments, saying he had "irresponsibly" undermined an attempt by Netanyahu to expose the true face of the Palestinian Authority.

"For the sake of a one-minute headline, [Bennett] hurt Netanyahu's effort to prove to the international community that the true peace rejectionist is the Palestinian Authority," Army Radio quoted Prime Minister's Office officials as saying.

Bennett was not the only political figure to jump on the Prime Minister Office official's quotes. Habayit Hayehudi MK Yoni Chetboun said that "Netanyahu and [Justice Minister Tzipi] Livni are leading us into oblivion. The rightist wing in Likud must form a political bloc that is faithful to our nationalist and Zionist way. Suggesting Jews live under Palestinian sovereignty is unprecedented abandonment."

Many Likud members also leveled criticism at Netanyahu. "A diplomatic plan that would forfeit the Jewish settlements to Palestinian sovereignty will never receive any political support from Likud," Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely stated. "A commitment to not uproot settlements is not enough, it is important that Israeli sovereignty [in Judea and Samaria] be preserved."

Deputy Defense Minister MK Danny Danon (Likud) echoed the sentiment saying, "We will not abandon settlers behind enemy lines. Anyone who thinks Jews can live under Palestinian sovereignty in Judea and Samaria is welcome to visit Gaza and get a glimpse of the idea of 'tolerance' in the Middle East."

Deputy Foreign Minister MK Zeev Elkin (Likud) said that "these suggestions by anonymous sources in the Prime Minister's Office are in stark contrast to [our] Zionist outlook. Anyone pulling the prime minister in that direction is trying to create a rift between him, the Likud and the nationalist camp as a whole."

MK Ofir Akunis, who serves as a deputy minister at the Prime Minister's Office, called the idea of leaving Israelis under Palestinian control "ludicrous."

Former Yesha Council head Danny Dayan said, "Of course every settler should have the right to remain in their home but it should be under Israeli rule. I came to this land to live in an Israeli state, not a Palestinian state."

Criticism also came from the Left. Labor MK Omer Bar-Lev said that "there is nothing about this idea that's applicable. In the real world, the people who will choose to remain in future Palestine will be the radical settlers, making it a matter of minutes, hours, or at most days until violence breaks out."

"Under the current circumstances, we must strive for a clean break from the Palestinians, for the sake of the Zionist vision. That is the only way to start the process of ending the conflict, which will take several decades."

High-ranking officials in the Palestinian Authority outright rejected the idea. "Anyone who says he wants to keep settlers in the Palestinian state is actually saying that he doesn't want a Palestinian state," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday.

"No settler will be allowed to stay in the Palestinian state, not even a single one, because settlements are illegal and the presence of the settlers on the occupied lands is illegal."

A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office is response to Erekat's remarks said, "Nothing is more telling of the Palestinian Authority's unwillingness to reach an accord with Israel than its extreme and reckless response to an unofficial report. An accord will only be reached when the Palestinians recognize the Jewish state and when the essential interests to the security of Israeli citizens are guaranteed."

Meanwhile, Israel is slated to host a serious of high-ranking foreign dignitaries in the coming weeks, including British Premier David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is also expected to return to Israel soon.