Benjamin Netanyahu Plots Unilateral Changes to Status Quo

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By JTA May 15, 2014

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will reportedly consult with advisers on alternative options to change the Israeli-Palestinian status quo in the West Bank.

Netanyahu’s shift, reported by Haaretz, came as Secretary of State John Kerry met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday in London regarding the possibility of restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which were suspended last month. Agence France-Presse reported that the meeting ended with little progress.

A State Department official told AFP that according to Kerry, “while the door remains open to peace, it is up to the parties to determine whether they are willing to take the steps necessary to resume negotiations.”

When Israel entered the latest round of negotiations last year, Netanyahu cited the need to prevent Israel from becoming a binational Jewish-Palestinian state. He repeated those sentiments in an interview with Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun during a trip to Japan this week.

“I don’t think the status quo is desirable,” Netanyahu said in an interview with the Japanese newspaper, according to Haaretz. “I don’t want it and I’m engaging in consultations with my own coalition partners and with others, to see if we have other alternatives, because I think the status quo is not a good idea, because I don’t want a binational state.”

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