The issue of Jews living in a future Palestinian state was at the heart of the spat between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett this week, but at least one lawmaker from Bennett's party agrees with Netanyahu. Last month, Bayit Yehudi faction leader Ayelet Shaked said: “If there will be a peace process, I think that like Arabs live in Israel, I don't see why the settlements can't stay and live in the Palestinian state if they want.” Shaked is the closest to Bennett of all his party's MKs. She worked with him in Netanyahu's office and then founded together with him the right-wing NGO My Israel. In an interview with Lucy Aharish of i24 News in December, Shaked clarified that she didn't think a two-state solution would be reached, but if it were, she asked, “why would [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] want a state clear of Jews? I just don't get it. Why can't it be just like Arabs in Israel and get equal rights?” Earlier this week, after the feud between Bennett and Netanyahu began, Shaked echoed her party leader's statements, telling both Channels 2 and 10 that it would go against Zionism for Jewish settlements to be under Palestinian sovereignty.
