Just one day before the Israeli General Election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood in an East Jerusalem settlement and pledged in a televised interview that he would never agree to a Palestinian state. He also made an election commitment not to halt settlement construction.
The next day, he and his Likud party were re-elected to power, giving a mandate to his election commitments – commitments which fly in the face of any ‘peace process’, freedom and justice for Palestinians, and international law.
And Netanyahu’s coalition Cabinet, announced in May, is just as extreme in its position as he is. New Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, for example, has said: “We should manage the conflict and not give up on any centimetre of land.” Shaked’s party – Jewish Home, now part of the coalition government – has said it wants Israel to annex 60% of the West Bank.
Israel Katz, Minister of Intelligence and Transportation, has said: “I am opposed to a Palestinian state. It is unacceptable.”
Now, as never before, it is time for sanctions to be imposed on Israel
Without sanctions on Israel, Palestinians cannot see a future free of occupation, apartheid and, in Gaza, crippling siege.
Tell the UK government that its citizens want immediate sanctions imposed on Israel until it agrees to abide by international law.
We’ll deliver the petition to the government in the coming weeks.