Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wants peace with the Palestinians, but described the creation of an independent Palestinian state as a threat to Israel's security. This became clear during his visit to the White House and meeting with US President Donald Trump, Reuters reports, News.bg reports.
Netanyahu stressed that in his opinion any future Palestinian state would become a "platform for Israel's destruction". For this reason, he noted, sovereign control over security should remain entirely in Israeli hands.
“I think the Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but no powers to threaten us“, the Israeli prime minister said. “This means that overall security must remain in our hands.“
Netanyahu recalled the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, using it as an argument against the creation of a Palestinian state:
“After October 7, people were saying that the Palestinians had a Hamas state in Gaza, and look what they did with it. They didn't build it, they turned it into a network of terror tunnels from which they carried out massacres the likes of which we haven't seen since World War II.“
When asked by reporters whether a two-state solution was still possible, President Trump replied: “I don't know“, and directed the question at Netanyahu.
The Israeli prime minister added that Israel was ready for peace with those Palestinians who did not want the destruction of the state.
“We will create a peace in which our security remains under our control,“ he said. “Let people say this is not a full-fledged state. We don't care. We swore: never again. Never again is now.“
The Palestinians have been striving for decades to create their own state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. A goal that many say has been undermined by the increased construction of Israeli settlements and the destruction in Gaza during the current war. Israel denies these accusations.
Last week, ministers from Netanyahu's Likud party called for the annexation of the occupied West Bank before the parliamentary recess at the end of July. Their optimism has been boosted by the return of Donald Trump to the White House, who has already proposed the controversial idea of the Palestinians leaving Gaza. A proposal that has met with serious criticism in the region and around the world.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israeli estimates suggest that around 50 hostages are still in Gaza, with 20 of them possibly alive.
The subsequent massive Israeli offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians and displaced much of Gaza's population.
While Netanyahu dined at the White House, Israeli officials were holding indirect talks with Hamas in Qatar, brokered by the United States, with the aim of reaching a ceasefire and hostage release agreement.