Saudi Arabia rejects remarks by Israel's Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians
World
Netanyahu on Thursday suggested that Palestinians should establish their state in Saudi Arabia
CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Israeli officials had suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be joking this week when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who misspoke by saying "Saudi state" instead of "Palestinian state" before correcting himself.
While the Saudi statement mentioned Netanyahu's name, it did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.
According to Turkish media reports, Netanyahu on Thursday suggested that Palestinians should establish their state in Saudi Arabia rather than in their own homeland dismissing any notion of Palestinian sovereignty.
"The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there,” Netanyahu said during an interview with Israeli Channel 14 disregarding the long-standing Palestinian demands for self-determination.
When asked whether a Palestinian state was necessary for normalization with Saudi Arabia, he rejected the idea outright framing it as a “security threat to Israel.”
“Especially not a Palestinian state. After Oct. 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," he claimed, ruling out the creation of a Palestinian state yet again.
Netanyahu also spoke about potential normalization with Saudi Arabia predicting an imminent agreement.
"I think peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not only feasible, I think it's going to happen," he said.
However, the Saudi Foreign Ministry had dismissed Netanyahu’s narrative reiterating that normalization with Israel was off the table unless a Palestinian state was established – a stance Netanyahu continues to disregard.
The interview took place while Netanyahu was in Washington, DC, where he appeared alongside US President Donald Trump at a joint press conference.
During the event, Trump said the US would “take over” Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere under an extraordinary redevelopment plan that he claimed could turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
He doubled down on his proposal Thursday and said no US soldiers would be needed.
The proposal has been widely condemned by world leaders.
