Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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Long before Benjamin Netanyahu became Prime Minister of Israel, a 29-year-old Netanyahu was already debating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the PLO, Palestinian statehood and the future of the Middle East.
In this reaction, Rafi Harel looks back at a remarkable 1978 debate in which a young Netanyahu argues that the central problem in the conflict was not Palestinian self-determination but the refusal to accept the existence of Israel.
Netanyahu cites a 1977 PLO statement declaring that its objective remained the destruction of the Zionist state and argues that the dispute was therefore about eliminating Israel rather than merely creating another state.
He also makes one of his most controversial arguments: that Jordan already functioned as a Palestinian state and that creating another Palestinian state west of the Jordan River would amount to establishing a second Palestinian state beside Israel.
Rafi also reacts to how Netanyahu’s arguments from nearly five decades ago compare with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today, including the debate over annexation, citizenship, demographics and Israeli control of Judea and Samaria.
Was Netanyahu right in 1978—or has history proven that the conflict is more complicated than he argued?
Watch the full reaction and leave your thoughts in the comments.
📲 Follow Rafi for South Florida real estate:
@rafi_the_realtor
#Netanyahu #Israel #Palestine #PLO #MiddleEast
☕ Support the channel:
buymeacoffee.com/rafiharel
Long before Benjamin Netanyahu became Prime Minister of Israel, a 29-year-old Netanyahu was already debating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the PLO, Palestinian statehood and the future of the Middle East.
In this reaction, Rafi Harel looks back at a remarkable 1978 debate in which a young Netanyahu argues that the central problem in the conflict was not Palestinian self-determination but the refusal to accept the existence of Israel.
Netanyahu cites a 1977 PLO statement declaring that its objective remained the destruction of the Zionist state and argues that the dispute was therefore about eliminating Israel rather than merely creating another state.
He also makes one of his most controversial arguments: that Jordan already functioned as a Palestinian state and that creating another Palestinian state west of the Jordan River would amount to establishing a second Palestinian state beside Israel.
Rafi also reacts to how Netanyahu’s arguments from nearly five decades ago compare with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today, including the debate over annexation, citizenship, demographics and Israeli control of Judea and Samaria.
Was Netanyahu right in 1978—or has history proven that the conflict is more complicated than he argued?
Watch the full reaction and leave your thoughts in the comments.
📲 Follow Rafi for South Florida real estate:
@rafi_the_realtor
#Netanyahu #Israel #Palestine #PLO #MiddleEast
