Netanyahu Insists: No Palestinian State West of the Jordan

In the face of the Trump administration signifying support for a UN Security Council Resolution, drafted largely by the Americans, that recognizes a “path to statehood for the Palestinians,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to reassure the Israeli public that there would never be a Palestinian state “west of the Jordan River.” His formulation left open the possibility of a Palestinian state east of the Jordan River, on territory that was originally intended to be part of the Palestine Mandate but instead, at the insistence of Great Britain, became the Emirate of Transjordan, and later, the Arab State of Jordan. Netanyahu was simply reaffirming the policy he has proclaimed for his entire political life — that of opposition to a “Palestinian state.” But he was now saying it in a different political climate. After the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, 80% of the Israeli public — a historic high — is now against a Palestinian state. At the same time, more countries in the West — including France, the U.K., Spain, and Norway — are choosing to recognize a “state of Palestine.” More on Netanyahu’s reaffirmation of a policy opposing a Palestinian state, which he described as “firm and unchanged,” can be found here: “Israel’s opposition to Palestinian state remains ‘firm and unchanged,’ Netanyahu tells cabinet,” by Keshet Neev, Jerusalem Post, November 16, 2025:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed Israel’s opposition to a Palestinian state and commitment to demilitarize Hamas, during his opening remarks at the Sunday government meeting.

The meeting included a discussions with ministers on the issue of a Palestinian state. Ron Dermer took part in the meeting, despite his resignation from his role as strategic affairs minister last week.

The statements came after a recent wave of remarks from politicians and far-right lawmakers, calling on Netanyahu to clarify Israel’s stance regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“A Palestinian state, our opposition to a Palestinian state on any territory west of the Jordan River remains firm and unchanged,” Netanyahu said at the meeting.

“I have been pushing back against these attempts for decades, doing so in the face of pressure from abroad and from home. So I do not need reinforcements, tweets, or lectures from anyone,” he added….

Netanyahu has never wavered in his opposition to a Palestinian state, as he reminded the right-wing members of his cabinet who had called for his “clarification.”

On Friday, the US, Qatar, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Turkey issued a joint statement expressing support for a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution under consideration that would “offer a pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.

This is the first time that the Trump administration has come out so clearly in favor of “a pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” and that is why Netanyahu felt the need to assert, yet again, that Israel would never permit it.

Additionally, a Palestinian state was mentioned in a UN Security Council draft from Thursday, discussing the International Security Force that is meant to govern Gaza.

That UN Security Council draft was the handiwork of the Americans, who are not going to veto their own resolution.

It could be argued that there is still a long way to go, and many obstacles, before Palestinian statehood could possibly be a reality. The Palestinian Authority would have to stop supporting terrorism, which means it would have to end its Pay-For-Slay program, and rewrite its schoolbooks that today glorify terrorists and terrorism. The future PA-run state of Palestine would likely have to agree to be disarmed, just as Hamas will be forcibly disarmed in Gaza, almost certainly by the IDF, as no one else has yet shown a willingness to do the job. There would have to be a provision for the 520,000 Israelis now living in Judea and Samaria. What status would they have in a “state of Palestine”? Would they be forced to move back into a much smaller Israel, now squeezed back within the 1949 armistice lines, leaving the Jewish state with a nine-mile-wide waist from Qalqilya to the sea? Or would they remain where they are, living in Israeli enclaves within, but not a part of, a state of Palestine? Or would they become citizens of “Palestine”?

So many questions, which those who now recognize a “state of Palestine” have not dared to even try to answer.

But one question has received a firm and unambiguous answer from the prime minister of Israel: No, a thousand times no, to a state of Palestine west of the Jordan River. And the Israeli public overwhelmingly agrees. Will the Trump administration support its most loyal ally, still fighting for its survival on seven fronts against implacable jihadists, or will it continue its folly of trying to appease the Arabs by seeming to favor the possibility of a 23rd Arab state?