The Jewish state is in a better strategic position than it was two years ago, Gideon Sa’ar, the Israeli foreign minister, told leaders associated with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Monday in New York City.
“The Iranian axis that surrounded Israel militarily has weakened greatly,” the minister said, per an Israeli readout of the meeting. “But what was a military siege is becoming an attempt at a political siege on the state of Israel with a clear goal: to impose a Palestinian state on us.”
Sa’ar spoke with the Conference of Presidents, an umbrella group of major U.S. Jewish organizations, prior to an official visit to Washington, D.C.
Ofir Akunis, the Israeli consul general in New York, also attended the meeting, according to the Israeli readout.
The French, British, Canadian and Australian governments are “trying to create momentum” around a Palestinian state, Sa’ar told the U.S. Jewish leaders.
Jerusalem’s top diplomat said that the “solution” those countries are hawking of a Palestinian state is “suicidal for Israel.”
“Israel cannot agree to this,” he said.
The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks are an example of “what happens when a terrorist state is allowed to arise near our communities,” he said. He added that there must be “no foreign sovereignty or any foreign army” west of the Jordan River.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman emeritus of the Conference of Presidents, told JNS that the discussion was “frank” and that Sa’ar didn’t “mince words or try to sugarcoat” issues of concern. (Hoenlein declined to go into specifics.)
“He was very receptive to what we had to say and showed appreciation for what we do here,” Hoenlein told JNS.
Sa’ar is slated to meet with Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state and national security adviser, in Washington on Wednesday. He is also scheduled to meet with Kristi Noem, the U.S. secretary of homeland security, and leaders of AIPAC, according to the minister’s office.
