Netanyahu denies telling Biden he doesn't rule out Palestinian state
6 Min Read
Israeli occupation PM Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses claims by US President Joe Biden that it was still possible the Israeli PM could agree to some form of a Palestinian state.
-
US President Joe Biden pauses during a meeting with Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in "Tel Aviv", on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (Pool Photo via AP)
Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied on Saturday that he informed US President Joe Biden that he has not dismissed the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu and Biden spoke by phone on Friday for the first time in nearly a month, with the US President saying following the call that he believed it was still possible the Israeli PM could agree to some form of Palestinian state.
"In his conversation with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his policy that after Hamas is destroyed Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty," Netanyahu's office said in a statement issued on Saturday.
On Thursday, Netanyahu had rejected Palestinian sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, saying it was incompatible with "Israel's" need to have "security control over all the territory west of the (River) Jordan".
Biden had said after the call on Friday that it was possible Netanyahu could come round to some form of a two-state solution.
"There are a number of types of two-state solutions. There's a number of countries that are members of the UN that... don't have their own militaries," Biden told reporters after an event at the White House.
Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq on Saturday dismissed Biden's comments about the possibility of "Israel" agreeing to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"The illusion that Biden is preaching about a state of Palestine and its characteristics does not fool our people," al-Rishq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, expressed in a statement.
"Biden is a full partner in the genocidal war and our people do not expect any good from him."
Earlier, Israeli occupation Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that there is "broad consensus" in the Israeli occupation against a Palestinian state, calling such a state a "push for the next massacre."
In an X post, Smotrich said "Israel’s friends should understand that the push for the establishment of a Palestinian state is a push for the next massacre, God forbid, and [poses] a threat to the existence of the State of Israel."
He declared that the White House must "wise up on the concepts that led to [this] national disaster in Israel."
Denial of Palestinian statehood 'unacceptable': UN chief
On Saturday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Uganda that the right of the Palestinian people to build their own state "must be recognised by all."
"The refusal to accept a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people, are unacceptable," the UN leader insisted in the Ugandan capital Kampala.
Such a stance "would indefinitely prolong a conflict that has become a major threat to global peace and security; exacerbate polarisation; and embolden extremists everywhere," Guterres warned.
"The right of the Palestinian people to build their own state must be recognised by all."
In its final summit communique, the Non-Aligned Movement on Saturday "strongly condemned the illegal Israeli military aggression against the Gaza Strip", and called for "a lasting humanitarian ceasefire."
The assembled leaders in Kampala also called for "the independence and sovereignty of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in order to achieve a two-state solution."
Netanyahu brought 'Israel' to current low point: Haaretz
Touching on Netanyahu’s statement, Haaretz cited The New York Times as saying that the Americans are talking about a two-stage plan to end the war in Gaza, which will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state and a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
It recalled that the Saudi Foreign Minister has already announced his country's readiness for normalization on the condition that a Palestinian state be established.
Haaretz considered that the so-called “two-state solution” was and remains the only possible solution to what it termed “the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
However, the newspaper pointed out that “the dream that peace with the Palestinians based on a territorial compromise and the establishment of a Palestinian state” must be abandoned during Netanyahu's tenure, describing the Israeli Prime Minister as “a failed leader, who brought Israel and the conflict to the current low point.”
“The thought that there is any chance that this man is able to repair what he destroyed with his clenched hands, with his twisted policies and his bad personality is an illusion that continuing to cling to it endangers the future of Israel,” Haaretz underlined.
It concluded its editorial by saying that “there is also no point in believing Netanyahu if he expresses any willingness to discuss a two-state solution, adding that “at this stage, the Americans should also already know that there is no value to any statement or commitment by Netanyahu.”
“Even his natural allies call him a liar.”
'Israel' in complex strategic situation, unlike anything it has witnessed in decades
In a related context, former legal advisor to the Shin Bet, Eli Bahar, considered in an article that "Israel is in a complex strategic situation, unlike anything it has witnessed in decades," and that more than 100 days of fighting against Hamas have not led to the movement's collapse or the release of the captives held in Gaza, casting doubt on the military objectives of the war.
Bahar pointed to the evolving situations and the exceptional escalation in the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria, "where military strikes are exchanged, leading to a potential dangerous escalation at any moment," and to the ignited front in the Red Sea with Yemen, emphasizing that "support for Israel worldwide is at an unprecedented low," and that "even if Israel succeeds in the legal arena in The Hague, it undoubtedly sits now on the global seat of the accused."
He considered that "to deal with such a complex situation, the government must present a plan that goes beyond more airstrikes and assassinations," emphasizing the necessity of the Israeli occupation showing "diplomatic skill at the highest level."
Bahar pointed out that Netanyahu's government is unable to make any decisions, neither regarding the future of Gaza nor the situation with the Palestinians in the West Bank, resulting in no way out of the mess that Israel has fallen into.
Read more: 'Real distrust' in Netanyahu even among pro-'Israel' US lawmakers
