Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the issue of normalization with Saudi Arabia and the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying such a state would be a “giant reward for terrorism,” in a Feb. 6 interview with Israel’s Channel 14.
Saudi Arabia has made the creation of a Palestinian state a precondition for normalization of relations with Israel. Most recently on Feb. 5, the Saudis swiftly contradicted U.S. President Donald Trump, who said on Tuesday that the Saudis were not demanding a Palestinian homeland in exchange for ties with Israel.
Asked whether the contradictory statements of Trump and the Saudis could be bridged, Netanyahu said simply, “I will not make any agreement that endangers the State of Israel. I will not do it.”
The prime minister said this applied “especially” if that meant creating a Palestinian state. “After the seventh of October [2023], do you know what that is? There was a Palestinian state. It was called Gaza. Look what we received. The biggest massacre since the Holocaust.
“To establish a Palestinian state after October 7 is a huge prize not only for Hamas [but] for Iran,” Netanyahu added.
The Saudis view the attrition and near-destruction of Hamas as a positive development and have aligned themselves with the Palestinian Authority, which controls Arab-populated areas in Judea and Samaria, advocating for that entity to take over the Gaza Strip.
“The Palestinian Authority is capable, with the support of the international community, of controlling the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at last year’s Munich Security Conference.
Netanyahu has emphasized that he would not support a P.A. takeover of the Strip. “I will not allow us to replace Hamastan with Fatahstan,” he said during a nationally broadcast press conference on Dec. 17, 2023, referring to Fatah, the controlling party in the Palestinian Authority.
“I will not allow the State of Israel to repeat the fateful mistake of Oslo, which brought to the heart of our country and to Gaza the most extreme elements in the Arab world, which are committed to the destruction of the State of Israel and who educate their children to this end,” he said.
Despite the gap between the parties, Netanyahu told Channel 14 that normalization with Saudi Arabia was on the table. “We will have not only a normalization agreement, perhaps a peace agreement, with Saudi Arabia, but also with many other countries.”
