Netanyahu rejects Palestinian statehood: Let them create their own state in Saudi Arabia

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that Palestinians should establish a state in Saudi Arabia rather than in their homeland.

"The Saudis could create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land there," Netanyahu said.

It is learned that this statement comes as Saudi Arabia and Israel seem even further away from normalizing relations, more than a year after officials in the US said an agreement was close.

Riyadh has repeatedly said over the past year that only a clear path to Palestinian statehood would lead it to establish formal ties with Israel, but Netanyahu rejected the idea, calling it a "security threat to Israel," the report said. foreign media, the Telegraph reports.

"Especially not a Palestinian state," Netanyahu said.

"After October 7? Do you know what this is? There was a Palestinian state, it was called Gaza. Gaza, led by Hamas, was a Palestinian state, and look what we got," he continued.

Otherwise, the Israeli leader's comments come while he was on an official visit to the United States.

They followed a joint press conference with Donald Trump, in which the US president announced his plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza to turn the Palestinian enclave into the "Mediterranean Riviera", with the US taking over the territory.

Normalization with Saudi Arabia was discussed between the two leaders, and in addition to rejecting the key Saudi condition of creating a Palestinian state, Netanyahu insisted that peace between Israel and the kingdom was a reality that would come.

"It's not only doable, but I think it will happen," he said.

The press conference was quickly followed by a statement from Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry, which said the kingdom's stance on Palestinian statehood was "firm and unwavering." /Telegraph/