Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked delivers a statement to members of the media, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Nov. 19, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Amir Cohen / File.

i24 News – Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked ruled out a Palestinian state under the current Israeli government in an interview Monday with UAE-based news outlet The National.

Palestinian statehood will not be discussed while Naftali Bennett serves as prime minister or when Yair Lapid take his place in 2023 as part of a rotation agreement, Shaked said while in Abu Dhabi during her first diplomatic visit to the Gulf state.

The minister added that there was a consensus in the diverse coalition from the left to the right of the ideological and political spectrum not to address any issues that could cause an internal rift, including attempting to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by means of a two-state solution.

“The current situation is the best for everyone,” Shaked said, referring to the Israeli policy of managing the conflict rather than trying to end it.

“We do believe in economic peace to improve Palestinian lives and to do mutual industrial zones. But not a state with an army, definitely.”

During the interview, the 45-year-old politician also slammed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel as hypocritical.

“They are antisemitic as they are against the existence of Israel. BDS is a new form of antisemitism,” she said.

Shaked also on Monday met with her Emirati counterpart, Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Saif Bin Zayed al-Nahyan, calling the relationship between the two countries strategic and important.

“Today, I experienced what real peace is. The government with its exceptional hospitality has made it clear that a real partnership has been forged between the countries,” she declared.

Israel and the UAE normalized their relations in September 2020 with the Abraham Accords signed in Washington.