Envoys receive FM directive about Palestinian state

Israeli envoys abroad have been told to adopt the directive against unilateral Palestinian statehood as set out by the government’s proclamation last week, that any permanent arrangement between the parties must be done through direct negotiations, Foreign Minister Israel Katz told The Jerusalem Post.

He has issued this directive, affirmed by 99 of the Knesset’s 120 members, to all Israel emissaries abroad.

It stated that, “Israel utterly rejects international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.

“A settlement, if it is to be reached, will come about solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions.”

The proclamation stressed that “Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition in the wake of the October 7 massacre would be a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would prevent any future peace settlement.”

The message to the emissaries is that irrespective of their private opinions, this is the policy of the State of Israel which they must put forward, Katz said.

Katz took up his post only in January, in a power-sharing agreement in which he exchanged his Energy and Infrastructure Ministry with Eli Cohen, who was foreign minister in the governing coalition’s first year.

In the conversation he has held with foreign ministers in the last two months it has became clear to Katz that the two-state solution has become more important for the international community precisely at a time when it is least palatable for Israelis in the aftermath of the October 7 attack.

It is important for Israel to “say something here” on this issue, Katz explained.

He spoke as the United States has revived its push for a regional deal. This would include a security pact between Washington and Riyadh, a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel and a process leading toward Palestinian statehood.

Israel fears attempts to unilaterally impose Palestinian statehood as part of this process by outside initiatives.