Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has no intention of allowed the establishment of a Palestinian state. He has chosen apartheid.

Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn has offered a skillful analysis of Prime Minister Naftali Bennetts first 100 days in office. In contrast to the anyone-but-Bibi sect, which is enamoured with itself and cant stop effusing about the change in style that Bennett has introduced how he compliments his cabinet ministers and how we dont hear anything from members of his family Benn rightly minimised the significance of the style, to which people now ecstatically cling, and got right to the point: [Bennett] gallops softly and determinedly toward one state with millions of Palestinian subjects, Benn writes.

But its not just one state that Bennett is establishing. Hes establishing an apartheid state. That word “apartheid” needs to appear from now on in every text. Apartheid will be Israels middle name, at least from the moment its prime minister declared that he has no interest in a peace agreement with the Palestinians and that the occupation is eternal in his view.

Bennett deserves credit for telling the truth: He ended the masquerade of a peace process, which wasnt a process and never intended to achieve peace. His predecessor once mumbled something about two states, which now, too, is over. Thats a positive development.

Bennett also said that he will not meet withPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Thats also for the better. Whats the point of one more in a series of photo ops that never, and I mean_never_, sought to bring about a just arrangement. Their only purpose was to ingratiate ourselves with the Americans and the Europeans, so they would let Israel continue to consolidate the occupation, build more settlements and ethnically cleanse more territory. Whats the point of issuing declarations about a two-state solution about which not a single prime minister was sincere, if its possible to say one state without upsetting anyone. That is the important point that Benn noticed: Bennett is the first to do so without annoying anyone.

The Israeli peace camp and the rest of the world embrace this founder of apartheid who intends to kill the Palestinian dream softly and even says as much. Its not that the dream wasnt already dead, but now its even impossible to dream.

Apartheid must be said, not for its lyrical beauty but as a punch to the face of the world that embraces Bennett. The American and the Egyptian presidents have gone out of their way to embrace this new, not-Netanyahu, and somebody needs to remind them whom theyre embracing. There were a considerable number of world leaders, including our own Yitzhak Rabin, who embraced South African Prime Minister John Vorster and later suffered regret and perhaps even shame. Now the world embraces Bennett, an affable, humble, pragmatic, talented and sane man, without seeing whats hiding behind the man they embrace.

Well then, my dear Europeans, Arabs and Americans, you are enthusing over a sworn apartheidist. Make no mistake. You really should believe him when he says he has no intention of allowing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

But what are your conclusions, Bennett-embracers of the world? That instead of a single Palestinian state, he intends to give them two states? Or maybe citizenship, equal rights and one person, one vote in a single state? What do you think his goal is, if not a modern apartheid state? What is the endgame of this friend of yours, if not apartheid South Africa in a different format?

And now to the challenge that has been placed before the world. Any embrace of Bennett is an embrace of apartheid. Not everything can be wrapped in gratitude for being rid ofNetanyahu. The wilful blindness and the self-deception must end. Precisely because Bennett is so decent, humble and talented there is a need to look straight ahead and say: If not two states, then one state. If not democracy, then apartheid.

Bennett has chosen apartheid. There must be a price for that in the world beyond Israel.

How moving it was to see him apologize publicly to the family of one Israeli soldier, Barel Hadaria Shmueli; how shocking and unsettling to understand his vision for 5 million human beings who are fated to live as subhumans forever. This is the man you embrace, Joe Biden, Angela Merkel and Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi. Hey world, you up?

This article was first published by Haaretz.