Watan-Saudi Arabia and several Arab countries on Sunday expressed their categorical rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the Gulf kingdom.
The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, described Netanyahu’s statements about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia as “completely detached from reality,” calling them “delusions that exist only in the minds of those who utter them.” Egypt, the UAE, and Qatar also adopted this stance.
Saudi Arabia Rejects Netanyahu’s Displacement Plans
These remarks, which Israeli media dismissed as merely a “joke,” came two days after former U.S. President Donald Trump proposed redeveloping the Gaza Strip and relocating over two million Palestinians living there to other countries, primarily Egypt and Jordan.
In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “The Kingdom reaffirms its absolute rejection of such statements, which aim to distract from the ongoing crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including the ethnic cleansing they are subjected to.”
The ministry added that “this extremist, occupying mindset does not comprehend what Palestinian land means to the Palestinian people—its emotional, historical, and legal significance. It does not recognize that the Palestinian people have the right to life in the first place.”
The statement further asserted that “our Palestinian brothers are rightful owners of their land; they are neither outsiders nor migrants who can be expelled at the whim of the oppressive Israeli occupation.”
It continued, “The Kingdom affirms that the Palestinian people’s rights will remain firmly established and cannot be taken away by anyone, no matter how much time passes.” The ministry emphasized that “lasting peace can only be achieved through acceptance of the principle of peaceful coexistence via a two-state solution.”
Saudi Arabia Halts Talks, Rejects Netanyahu’s Controversial Remarks
Saudi Arabia had been engaged in preliminary negotiations with Israel through U.S. mediation before the war in Gaza erupted. However, Riyadh halted talks and hardened its stance after the war broke out following Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Saudi Arabia now conditions normalization with Israel on the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu stirred significant controversy on Thursday with his comments about establishing a “Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia” during an interview with Israel’s Channel 14.
However, the entire matter appeared to stem from a slip of the tongue by his interviewer, right-wing journalist Yaakov Bardugo, while questioning him about Saudi Arabia’s refusal to normalize relations without the establishment of a “Palestinian state.”
Netanyahu interrupted him, asking, “A Palestinian state?” before continuing, “Unless you mean a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia. They [the Saudis] have a lot of land, a lot of land.”
Netanyahu’s remarks triggered widespread Arab condemnation.
Arab Nations Condemn Netanyahu’s Remarks, Stand with Saudi Arabia
On Saturday, Egypt condemned Netanyahu’s “irresponsible and completely unacceptable statements in the strongest possible terms.”
Cairo stated that it “fully rejects these reckless statements, which threaten the security and sovereignty of the Kingdom.” The Egyptian Foreign Ministry stressed that “the security and sovereignty of Saudi Arabia are red lines that Egypt will not allow to be crossed, and its stability is an integral part of the security and stability of Egypt and the Arab world.”
Similarly, the UAE expressed its “strong condemnation and deep outrage” at Netanyahu’s “unacceptable and provocative remarks.” It “categorically rejected these statements, considering them a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter.”
Qatar declared its “full solidarity” with Saudi Arabia following the Israeli prime minister’s remarks, while Bahrain affirmed its “support for Saudi Arabia’s security, stability, and sovereignty.”
Jordan also denounced “the aggressive calls to establish a [Palestinian state] on Saudi territory, considering them inciteful and unacceptable.”
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufyan Qudah asserted that “Jordan categorically rejects these provocative statements, which reflect an exclusionary, inciteful ideology hostile to peace and which escalate tensions in the region.”
For Palestinians, any attempts to force them out of Gaza evoke painful memories of the Nakba (catastrophe) that followed the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
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