Netanyahu vows there will be no Palestinian state ahead of UN meeting
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that a "Palestinian state will not be established," as countries including France and Canada move to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this month.
Netanyahu attended a ceremony in the West Bank on Thursday celebrating his right-wing government's expansion of the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim.
"This thing is about to realize the doubling of the city of Ma'ale Adumim," Netanyahu said in Hebrew at the ceremony. "There will be 70,000 people here in five years. It will be a tremendous change."
"We said there will be no Palestinian state -- and indeed there will be no Palestinian state! This place is ours. We will take care of our heritage, our land and our security," Netanyahu said.
In July, the leaders of France, Canada and the U.K. announced they would recognize a Palestinian state at the next United Nations Assembly in September. At the time, the Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the decision.
Responding to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's announcement, the ministry said, "The change in the position of the Canadian government at this time is a reward for Hamas and harms the efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of the hostages."
The settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, which was celebrated by Netanyahu on Thursday, is 7 miles east of Jerusalem. It was founded in 1975, with about 40,000 Israelis currently residing there. Netanyahu's government recently approved a massive expansion of the settlement, adding over 7,000 new housing units and various infrastructure upgrades. The plan has faced criticism from the United Nations.
The International Court of Justice declared that the Israeli settlement is illegal. The U.N. Security Council has also passed several resolutions condemning the settlements, most recently in 2016.
The ICJ concluded that Israel's continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which includes Gaza and the West Bank, is unlawful and that it is under an obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence "as rapidly as possible."
Ma'ale Adumim is one of several Jewish settlements that lie between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Critics say its location is meant to prevent the establishment of a contiguous future Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
