The recognition of a Palestinian state on Sunday by the UK and other countries has led to discussion over how Israel will respond.
Israel has already reacted angrily to the moves – and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will make his response known after he returns from the US at the end of this week.
What form that will take could be hinted at when Netanyahu speaks at the UN General Assembly on Friday.
He has already said Israel will continue building Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank – illegal under international law and on land now formally recognised by more countries as part of the Palestinian state.
There is speculation that Israel might opt to annex parts of the West Bank – which would be a hugely controversial and dramatic move, throwing a direct challenge to the international community.
European officials, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the Palestinians have already warned Israel against it, seeing it as a death-knell to the vision of a two-state solution by illegally taking land now recognised by more than 75% of UN members as the Palestinian state.
Netanyahu’s most right-wing ministers want most of it, while Netanyahu himself has previously favoured annexing a part known as the Jordan Valley.
The US – Israel’s most powerful ally – might consider it too damaging to its hopes for more Arab normalisation with Israel to condone it.
With Israel already under huge international pressure over its war in Gaza, Netanyahu may try to find a way to respond which will both pacify his coalition and avoid risking further international backlash.
Speaking yesterday, the Israeli prime minister said recognising a Palestinian state amounted to a “huge reward to terrorism”.
In a video posted on social media before Portugal joined the UK, Canada and Australia in making the move, Benjamin Netanyahu said a Palestinian state “will not happen”.
“A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River,” he stated, adding that they have doubled Jewish settlements in the West Bank and “will continue on this path”.
Netanyahu also said he will respond to what he called the “latest attempt to impose a terrorist state” on Israel following Monday’s meeting of the UN General Assembly.
bbc.com