Netanyahu Dismisses Saudi Demand for Palestinian State, Suggests It Be Established Elsewhere
Israeli PM Netanyahu mocks Saudi Arabia’s stance on Palestinian statehood, while Riyadh reaffirms that normalization with Israel is impossible without it.
Watan-In response to Saudi Arabia’s firm stance on establishing a Palestinian state, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that “Saudi Arabia has vast areas of land where a Palestinian state can be established.”
Netanyahu made this remark while responding to a question from a host on Israel’s Channel 14 on Thursday evening regarding Saudi Arabia’s insistence on the establishment of a Palestinian state as a prerequisite for normalizing relations with Israel.
Mockingly, Netanyahu stated, “Saudi Arabia has vast areas of land; they can establish the Palestinian state there.”
He added in his interview with the Israeli channel, which is known to be close to him, “We cannot allow a Palestinian state to be established here after the events of October 7.”
Netanyahu further claimed that Saudi statements on the necessity of establishing a Palestinian state for normalizing relations with Tel Aviv “are not necessarily an indicator of its final position.”
He went on to assert that “Riyadh does not condition normalization with Israel on the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
However, the Saudi Foreign Ministry reiterated in a statement early Wednesday that it rejects any diplomatic relations with Israel without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. The statement emphasized that “this firm position is not subject to negotiation or compromise” and that Saudi Arabia had conveyed this stance to the current U.S. administration.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stipulated that normalization with Israel is contingent on the Israeli government’s agreement to establish a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders.
Netanyahu’s remarks come just days after statements by former U.S. President Donald Trump about his country’s intention to seize control of the Gaza Strip and displace Palestinians from it. Trump also claimed that Saudi Arabia no longer requires the establishment of a Palestinian state as a condition for normalizing relations with Israel, triggering widespread regional and international rejection.
