Netanyahu Calls Palestinian State 'Suicide' for Israel as Large Jewish Housing Project Announced

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing back against international pressure for a Palestinian state, calling it an act of "national suicide." Despite strong criticism from the U.N. and others, Israel announced a large housing project for Jewish residents of the West Bank.

And in an exclusive interview with CBN News, Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz shares his appreciation for Christians standing for Israel worldwide.

Netanyahu offered a history lesson Thursday on why the two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians is a deadly mistake. Netanyahu noted that "Before World War II, the Western countries tried to appease Hitler."

He elaborated, "Well, today the West is telling Israel, 'Just give the Palestinians a piece of Israel and they'll make peace with you.' No, they won't. For the last century, they've been offered a state of their own. And they refused, because their goal is not to create a state for themselves, it's to destroy the state of ours, the Jewish state. That's their national goal. So we're not going to – we're not going to commit national suicide." 

The prime minister refuses to bow to critics on several levels, including a controversial plan to build thousands of homes for Israeli Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria – a move that buries the idea of a Palestinian state and is drawing fire from the United Nations, which claims it violates international law.

Netanyahu was backed up by his finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who declared, “Anyone who tries to, today in the world, to recognize a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground...in the form of houses, the facts of neighborhoods, roads, and more and more Jewish families building lives."

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In his interview with CBN News, Dershowitz insisted the Palestinians haven't earned statehood.

"Let them work for it," he told us. "Make sure it's done as part of a negotiated deal to require them to give up something and to create some kind of quid pro quo."

He added, "But, no. France and England, and other countries, are saying, 'We’re going to give you something for nothing. We’re not going to make you do anything when not even asking you to return hostages.'"

Dershowitz believes the war in Gaza is at a critical point. "The clear message that's being sent by the international community is: Use terrorism. It works," he said.

And that message has dangerous implications.

"The Bible commands human beings to exercise their free will: 'I have placed before you the choice between life and death, between blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life.' And Hamas has chosen death. And the international community has chosen to reward the choice of death rather than the choice of life," Dershowitz commented.

The professor recently came face-to-face with antisemitism when he told us he was refused service by a vendor in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, for wearing a T-shirt that read, "Proud Zionist." Dershowitz is grateful to Christians for their unwavering support of Israel.

"The support of Christians, evangelical Christians, Christians of every denomination, couldn't be more important," he stated. "I have to tell you that is as important as the Iron Dome is. The Iron Dome of Christianity has probably done more to protect Israel from the oppression and hatred than almost any military weapon."