Palestinian state after Oct 7 attack a reward to terrorism, says Netanyahu

Ruling out the creation of the Palestinian state yet again, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that it would mean a reward to terrorism.

In an interview with Hebrew-language outlet Channel 14, Netanyahu said that there was no point of Palestinian statehood after the October 7 attack.

Netanyahu also went on to reject the notion that normalisation deals with Saudi Arabia and others in the region depend on the Palestinian statehood.

The remarks came within days of Saudi Arabia categorically stating that there would not be any normalisation of relations with Israel without addressing the question of Palestinian statehood. In recent days, Netanyahu has also endorsed US President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians outside of the Gaza Strip and the United States taking over the enclave to redevelop it.

‘Palestinian state after Oct 7 huge reward to terrorism, defeat for us’

Amid calls from the Arab world and much of the international community to move towards Palestinian statehood, Netanyahu said that it is now off the table.

Netanyahu said that it would be a “huge victory” to terrorism in general and Hamas in particular and a “huge defeat” to Israel.

“There was a Palestinian state. They called it Gaza. Hamas-led Gaza was a Palestinian state and look what we got – the biggest massacre since the Holocaust. And to establish a Palestinian state after October 7 is a huge reward for terrorism. A huge victory not only for Hamas [but also for] Iran. And a huge defeat for us and our partners,” said Netanyahu in the interview with Channel 14 in Hebrew.

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In an apparent indication that Israel would not agree to the demand of Palestinian statehood for normalisation deals with Saudi Arabia and other nations, Netanyahu said that Israel “must be very strong and it must bypass the Palestinian veto to go out into the Arab world”. He repeated his positions, which has hardened in recent years , that whenever Israel has vacated land, it has been taken over by armed groups that threaten Israel.

Netanyahu said, “I didn’t say that I had to give up the territories of my homeland and put my enemy on the outskirts of Tel Aviv or around Jerusalem or inside Jerusalem.”

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Netanyahu declared the efforts of reconciliation with Palestinians a failure and declared Oslo Accords, which led to the partial governance arrangement with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Gaza under the framework of Palestinian Authority (PA), “terrible” and ruled out further empowerment of PA. For Gaza, he said that he said the US rule would be better than PA’s rule.

Referring to PA President Mahmoud Abbas by his popular Arabic name Abu Mazan, Netanyahu said, “And now you have to choose – let’s say you have to choose between Abu Mazen and the PA in Gaza, which is what I kept hearing between the lines, and before the lines and in the headlines: ‘Abu Mazen and the PA will come and bring us a new Gaza.’ Really, well, what are you talking about, after all, they were there and we saw where it led. And we see how they educate their children. So the president of the United States comes and says – I’m willing to bring something else – and even take responsibility for Gaza. What do you prefer Abu Mazen or the U.S. there?” said Netanyahu.