Netanyahu says Israel will not accept Palestinian state, even to gain Saudi normalisation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again reiterated his staunch opposition to a Palestinian state, saying Israel would not shift on the issue even to secure normalisation with Saudi Arabia.
Asked about the prospect during an interview with Israeli news outlet Abu Ali Express, Netanyahu said: “There will be no Palestinian state. As simple as that … It’s an existential threat to Israel.”
However, the Israeli leader said he still has “cautious optimism” about potential Saudi normalisation, which he claims was set back by the Gaza war. “It’s possible that the conditions could come to be, but the conditions would have to be acceptable to both sides, good for both sides,” he said. “If it comes together, great, and if not, we’ll protect our vital interests.”
Netanyahu says ‘worst of Gaza war over’, but Israel ‘may still act’
Continuing his interview with Abu Ali Express, Netanyahu said he believes the war in Gaza, “or at least the worst of it, is apparently behind us, although we may still have to act there”. “The war in the broader sense, with the seven parallel fronts, is behind us,” he said.
His comments come despite a wave of deadly Israeli attacks in both Gaza and Lebanon.
Yesterday, the UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric expressed concern over the “fragility of the ceasefire” in Gaza and called for a halt to killings in the enclave.
May still act? Who is he trying to fool.
Despite Gaza ceasefire, ‘we haven’t seen the worst’: B’Tselem chief
Yuli Novak, executive director of the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, has a warning for politicians in the United States and across the world: The situation in Israel-Palestine is “disastrous”.
Despite the US-brokered ceasefire that scaled back Israeli attacks in Gaza, Novak told Al Jazeera the conditions are more dangerous than ever. “Our warning is that we haven’t seen the worst,” she said, stressing Israel must be held accountable for its many abuses in Gaza.
Over the past two years, numerous human rights groups have released reports accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza – a campaign to destroy the Palestinian people.
