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Netanyahu responds to Obama’s criticism over Palestinian land with historical claims
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in an English-language video message released on Friday that Jews are not foreign occupiers in the land of their ancestors. The message came after former US President Barack Obama said Israel had taken other people’s land in its founding.
As international assessments of Israel’s presence in Palestinian territories continue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Jews are not “foreign occupiers” in the land of their ancestors. In an English-language video message released on Friday, Netanyahu rejected criticism that Israel has seized land and lost its moral standing.
“The Jewish people are not foreign occupiers in the land of our ancestors. Our history is not a colonial project,” Netanyahu said.
Claiming that Jews have been connected to this land for thousands of years, Netanyahu said: “Our land is not stolen land. This is our homeland; it is called Judea, and this is where the Jews come from.”
The Israeli prime minister said his country could not be compared to Dutch colonialism in Indonesia or Belgian rule in the Congo, adding: “We are the Jews of Judea.”
Netanyahu also said: “Every peace built on illusions will inevitably be shattered on the rocks of Middle Eastern reality.” He said Israel would not risk its existence to please those who do not accept historical facts or do not recognize Israel’s right to exist.
Obama’s remarks
Former US President Barack Obama said in a speech on Tuesday, as he received an honorary doctorate from Queen’s University in Northern Ireland, that Israel had taken other people’s land in its founding.
Obama said Israelis had seized land belonging to others and had gone too far in doing so. He said it was understandable that the landowners would view what happened as an injustice and want their land back.
Obama said the notion that Israel, as the stronger and more technologically advanced party in the region, could take whatever it wanted and secure itself without making concessions to anyone raised questions about the future of peace, adding that this approach might work in the short term.
Obama argued that adopting such a stance would mean losing the moral high ground. The former US president also said Netanyahu’s government had adopted this approach and that it had to accept that 7 million Palestinians would continue to live where they are.
Rulings on Palestinian territories and settlements
The United Nations states that the Palestinian territories Israel occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, are under Israeli occupation.
In an advisory opinion issued on July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice found Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories unlawful. The court called on Israel to end this presence as rapidly as possible.
The court also said Israel must immediately cease all new settlement activity and evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territories.
In Resolution 2334, adopted in 2016, the UN Security Council also stated that the establishment of settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity.
The resolution described settlements as a flagrant violation of international law and a major obstacle to the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.
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