Ofir Akunis
Ofir AkunisHezki Baruch

Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) praised the Trump Administration's shift in focus away from the two-state solution during the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, arguing that the creation of a Palestinian Arab state would become a security threat to the State of Israel.

"I am pleased to see 'two-states' dropped from the agenda. It is a great departure from the discourse which has prevailed here for the past eight years," Akunis said before the cabinet meeting.

Akunis said Obama pressured Israel on the diplomatic front as if there was nothing else for the US president to do. "The two-state solution would put Israel in a clear and immediate danger from Palestinian terrorism. In addition, no one in the world gives his land to the enemy. So that idea was absurd, and after eight years of Israel being pressured over it, it has been removed from the agenda."

"I struggled against the idea eight years ago when I was in a small minority. We must continue to fight against this idea and mobilize public opinion both within Israel and internationally," Akunis added.

"I support the peace process, I support negotiations with the Palestinians, I support negotiations with any Arab country and with all those who want peace with us, but not with those who want to replace us as the Palestinians aspire to do," he said.

"If the Palestinians had been serious even once about their intentions for peace in the [last] century, then peace would have come. Unfortunately there is no partner on the other side. They do not want [peace], and therefore there is no peace with them."