Palestinians: New Bennett govt no different from Netanyahu's rule

Palestinian resistance group Hamas says it does not foresee any positive changes from Israel's post-Netanyahu government, with other leaders saying they expect new government of Naftali Bennett to be even worse.

(R to L) Israel's incoming PM Naftali Bennett reaches out to his predecessor, outgoing PM Benjamin Netanyahu, after a special session to vote on a new government at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 13, 2021.
AFP

(R to L) Israel's incoming PM Naftali Bennett reaches out to his predecessor, outgoing PM Benjamin Netanyahu, after a special session to vote on a new government at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 13, 2021.

Palestinians have called Naftali Bennett's take over as Israel's new prime minister an "internal Israeli affair", saying they are not expecting any positive changes from Israel's post-Netanyahu government.

"This is an internal Israeli affair," Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said. "Our position has always been clear, what we want is a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital," Rudeineh said.

"We aren’t counting on any change in the occupation governments, since they are united on the policy of killing and confiscating Palestinian rights," Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Abu Zuhri on Twitter on Sunday attributed the failure to form a government by former PM Benjamin Netanyahu to "the successive repercussions of the victory of the resistance" in 11 days of war this May between Israel and Palestine in Gaza, a blockaded Palestinian enclave governed by Hamas. 

Israel's parliament narrowly approved a new coalition government, ending the historic 12-year rule of Netanyahu and sending the polarising leader into the opposition.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that "it is inaccurate to call the new Israeli government a change government ... because its policies will not change from the previous government, if we do not see worse policies than it."

In a statement, the ministry posed a host of questions on the government led by Bennett, including: “What is the position of the new government regarding the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital?"

"What is its position of the settlement and annexation processes? What is its position on Jerusalem and respect for the historical and legal situation there? Its position on the signed agreements? Its position on the resolutions of international legitimacy? Its position on the two-state solution and negotiations on the basis of the principle of land for peace?"

READ MORE: Naftali Bennett sworn in as Israel's new prime minister

Bennett is no different from Netanyahu

"Regardless of the shape of the government in Israel, it will not alter the way we look at the Zionist entity. It is an occupation and a colonial entity, which we should resist by force to get our rights back," Fawzi Barhoum, another Hamas spokesman said. 

Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative movement, warned that Bennett's government will push for illegal settlements and racial discrimination and will be more extreme than the previous government.

"This new government is no different from the Netanyahu government, as it is a government of occupation, colonial settlement, and racial discrimination like the previous government and even worse," Barghouti told Anadolu Agency, stressing that Bennett is "more extremist than Netanyahu."

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As evidence, he cited Bennett’s statements on Sunday about expanding settlements to area C of the occupied West Bank.

Under the 1995 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was divided into three portions – Area A, B, and C – with area C under administrative and security control of Israel until a final status agreement is reached with the Palestinians.

Barghouti called on Palestinians and the world to confront the "racist government" through popular resistance, boycotts, and sanctions. 

READ MORE: Naftali Bennet's rise tells of how 'poisonous' Israeli politics is

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