Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Saudi Arabia had enough land to provide the Palestinians with a state in a Channel 14 interview on Thursday.
“The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there,” he said.
When questioned about a Palestinian state as a condition of normalization, Netanyahu said he “would not make an agreement that would endanger the State of Israel.”
“Especially not a Palestinian state. After October 7? Do you know what that is? There was a Palestinian state, it was called Gaza. Gaza, led by Hamas, was a Palestinian state, and look what we got – the biggest massacre since the Holocaust,” he said.
The interview was conducted during Netanyahu’s Washington visit, which began with a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump, where the president announced his plan for the US to control the Gaza Strip.
Additionally, the two discussed the potential for normalization with Saudi Arabia, with Netanyahu saying, “I think peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not only feasible, I think it’s going to happen.”
However, shortly after the press conference, the Saudi foreign ministry stated it would not discuss ties with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Trading the West Bank for a Palestinian state
Earlier this week, anonymous Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post they feared Netanyahu would be willing to end the war in Gaza and delay annexation of the West Bank in favor of advancing a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.
The officials feared that the prime minister would use a delay in annexation as a compromise in an attempt to sway Riyadh from demanding a pathway to a Palestinian state.
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