Two-state solution is off the cards, says Netanyahu
‘In any future deal… Israel needs security control of all territory west of the Jordan’
‘We want to see normalisation tied to a political horizon for the Palestinians’
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU said he had told the US he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, declaring that Israel must be “capable of saying no to our friends”.
In a televised broadcast yesterday, the Israeli prime minister said he had rejected Joe Biden’s call for a two-state solution in the region, adding that Tel Aviv must have “security control” on all territory west of the Jordan river.
His remarks appeared to knock back plans to tie Palestinian statehood to a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, which would be brokered by the United States. Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, told Mr Netanyahu on a visit to Israel last week that America hoped to see a pathway to an internationally recognised Palestinian state.
The message was repeated by Jake Sullivan, Mr Biden’s national security adviser, in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week.
However, in his address, Mr Netanyahu rejected the idea and suggested he would stand up to US plans for the region, despite Washington’s backing for Israel since the Hamas terror attacks on Oct 7 last year.
“In any future arrangement … Israel needs security control of all territory west of the Jordan,” he said. “This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do?” He added: “The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends.”
Mr Sullivan, the White House’s top security official, said on Tuesday that the rapprochement between Israel and Saudi Arabia should be conditional on a process to create a Palestinian state.
“The strategy post-oct 7 is that we want to see normalisation tied to a political horizon for the Palestinians,” he said. “It is President Biden’s firm conviction that the way to do that is two states with Israel security guaranteed,” Mr Sullivan added, acknowledging that Mr Netanyahu’s administration had “expressed quite strong views” about that proposal. “I know it is hard to imagine right now, but this is the only path that provides peace and security to all,” he said.
“It can be done. The pieces are there to put together. Not years down the road but in the nearer term if all of us pull together and make bold decisions.”
Mr Biden’s plan to tie a historic Saudi-israeli peace deal to a two-state solution was backed by Riyadh yesterday.
Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the US, said at Davos that the kingdom would enter into a deal on the condition of an “irrevocable” agreement to recognise Palestine. She added that normalisation talks would not continue without a ceasefire in Gaza.
“The kingdom has been quite clear. While there is violence on the ground and the killing persists, we cannot talk about the next day,” she said.
The other strands of the US’S Middle East peace plan are an end to terror attacks on Israel from Gaza, peace between Israel and other Arab states, and security assurances for Israel, Mr Sullivan said this week.
However, Mr Netanyahu’s opposition to a Palestinian state threatens the continued normalisation of Israeli-saudi relations, which has been hailed as a significant step towards peace in the region.
His administration has repeatedly rejected a two-state solution, while the prime minister has vowed to “push ahead” with the war in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed.