Will Israel build island next to Gaza?
Minister of Transportation and Intelligence Affairs Yisrael Katz claims that Israel must consider blocking West Bank areas where terror attacks have taken place.
The binational state allegation is “a form of intimidation, to convince us to forfeit territory. No such reality can ever come into existence,” Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz told Al-Monitor. Katz, who is also minister of intelligence and atomic energy, uttered the statement above in response to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech at the Saban Forum (Dec. 5), in which he argued that without an agreement with the Palestinians, “Israel cannot be Jewish and democratic.”
In an attempt to deal with the terror wave that broke out about two months ago, Katz, a member of the diplomatic-security Cabinet, proposes that a total closure be imposed on the Palestinian territories where the terror attacks originate. Katz says that the day that portable concrete barriers were erected in East Jerusalem (Oct. 18), in an attempt to lessen the friction between Jews and Arabs in the area, was a “black day” for him. Regarding the diplomatic initiative, he continues to promote the concept of an artificial island in Gaza’s ocean.
The text of the interview follows:
Al-Monitor: John Kerry sounds the alarm over a binational state. Are you concerned that the government, of which you are a member, will be responsible for the loss of the Jewish majority in Israel?
