JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that a Palestinian state will not be established on his watch if he is re-elected.
In an interview published Monday, Netanyahu told the daily Maariv newspaper that withdrawing from occupied areas to make way for a Palestinian state would only ensure that territory will be taken over by Islamic extremists. When asked if that means a Palestinian state will not be established if he is elected, Netanyahu said “indeed.”
His comments come a day before an election that is viewed as a vote of confidence in Netanyahu, whose Likud Party is trailing the centrist Zionist Union in recent polls.
Read Tuesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.