Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US calls for the establishment of a post-war Palestinian state or for Israel to scale back its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
In a nationally broadcast news conference, Mr Netanyahu reiterated his long-standing opposition to a two-state solution, one day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel would never have “genuine security” without a pathway toward Palestinian sovereignty.
A two-state solution envisions an independent, unoccupied, state of Palestine to sit alongside the state of Israel, west of the Jordan River.
But Mr Netanyahu dismissed the idea, telling reporters that a Palestinian state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel.
“In any future arrangement… Israel needs security control (over) all territory west of the Jordan,” he said.
“This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do?”
“This truth I tell to our American friends, and I put the brakes on the attempt to coerce us to a reality that would endanger the state of Israel,” he added.
The comments prompted an immediate response from the White House.
“We obviously see it differently,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. “There will a post-conflict Gaza, no reoccupation of Gaza,” he added.
Saturday, January 20, 2024
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