Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns of the Palestinians for the sake of the long-term viability of the Jewish state, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday.
“The idea that Israel is going to be able to sustain itself for the long term without accommodating the Palestinian question …, it’s not going to happen,” Biden said in a farewell interview with MSNBC as he prepares to leave office on Monday.
“And I keep reminding my friend, and he is a friend, although we don’t agree a whole lot lately, Bibi Netanyahu, that he has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns of a large group of people called Palestinians, who have no place to live independently.”
Biden has been a lifelong advocate of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most Israelis now oppose such a move, surveys show.
Biden said, however, that Netanyahu did not hold up negotiations with Hamas on a ceasefire agreement because of his political interests.
“I do think he’s in a position where, even now, it takes a lot of courage to take on that coalition he has, because they could vote him out of office tomorrow,” the U.S. president said.
