Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have mostly dismissed a change in the Israeli government, saying the Yamina party chief due to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely pursue the same right-wing agenda.
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Naftali Bennett, a former head of the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization of Jewish localities in Judea and Samaria, is set to become Israel's next prime minister under a patchwork coalition deal struck on Wednesday.
On Thursday Bennett placed much of the blame for the conflict on the Palestinians.
"The truth must be told: The national struggle between Israel and the Palestinians is not over territory. The Palestinians do not recognize our very existence here, and it would appear that this will be the case for some time," he told Channel 12 News.
Speaking before Bennett's latest remarks Bassem Al-Salhi, a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the prime minister-designate was no less extreme than Netanyahu, adding: "He will make sure to express how extreme he is in the government."
Similar sentiments were voiced elsewhere.
"There is no difference between one Israeli leader and another," said Ahmed Rezik, 29, a government worker in Gaza. "They are good or bad for their nation. And when it comes to us, they are all bad, and they all refuse to give the Palestinians their rights and their land."
Hamas, the Islamist terror group that controls Gaza, said it made no difference who governs Israel.
"Palestinians have seen dozens of Israeli governments throughout history, Right, Left, center, as they call it. But all of them have been hostile when it comes to the rights of our Palestinian people, and they all had hostile policies of expansionism," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.
In what would be a first in Israel, a governing coalition is set to include an Islamist party elected by members of Israel's 21% Arab minority.
Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas said the coalition agreement would see more than 53 billion shekels ($16 billion) invested in improving infrastructure and combating violent crime in Arab towns.
"He is a traitor. What will he do when they ask him to vote on launching a new war on Gaza? Will he accept it, being a part of the killing of Palestinians?" asked 21-year-old Gazan Badri Karam of Abbas.
Bennett has been a strong advocate of annexing parts of Judea and Samaria. However, in his first public remarks on the issue in recent days, he appeared to propose a continuation of the status quo, with some easing of conditions for Palestinians.
"My thinking in this context is to shrink the conflict. We will not resolve it. But wherever we can [improve conditions] – more crossing points, more quality of life, more business, more industry – we will do so."
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