Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to denounce the recognition of a Palestinian state by many of Israel’s historic allies, but the prime minister may be struggling to decide how to turn rhetoric into a concrete response. His options are perhaps more constrained than he would have his supporters believe.
He has variously threatened annexation of occupied Palestinian land and bilateral action against countries that joined the tide of recognition. But laying formal claim to part or all of the West Bank would jeopardise the Abraham accords, the historic agreement that normalised ties with regional powers including the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has already said annexation is a “red line”.
Israel chose a bilateral response to Ireland, Norway and Spain when they recognised a Palestinian state last year, including withdrawing ambassadors. Doing the same thing now, when so many key allies have followed suit, would be far more complicated – and could harm Israel far more than its targets, former Israeli diplomats said.
Alon Liel, a former diplomat who served as Israel’s ambassador to South Africa, said: “I think it’s such a difficult dilemma that Netanyahu decided to postpone. There is no way Israel will not respond, and there is no way Israel will respond in a clever way. The cabinet is on the point of discussing which mistakes to make.”
The Jewish new year holiday and the upcoming UN general assembly have given Netanyahu a chance to claim breathing space while he considers his options. He is travelling to the US for the meeting and said his response to the UK, France and others would come after meeting Trump. Before leaving, Netanyahu convened a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet to discuss possible responses, but the two strongest advocates of annexation – far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich – were not invited.
