Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told Newsmax on Wednesday that a Palestinian state would threaten Israel’s existence. He condemned recent announcements by France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state .
“In the international community, it’s become a slogan, two-state solution. Who said it’s the solution? It’s probably the problem. I say it’s the two-state illusion,” Sa’ar stated, noting that the two-state approach had already been tested and failed – pointing to Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 and, years later, the Hamas massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“The fact is that we already tried this genius idea,” Sa’ar argued. “We did it when we totally withdrew in 2005 from [the] Gaza Strip. What was called, at the time, the Disengagement Plan, 20 years ago. We dismantled all our military camps, all our communities, even the graves from the cemeteries,” he continued.
“But still, the way they responded [was] to build the largest terror kingdom on earth. And it took a very short time after when they attacked time and again with missiles. And it took 16 years from the day that Hamas took over [the] Gaza Strip [in 2007] to Oct. 7,” Sa’ar argued.
The foreign minister also criticized the Palestinian Authority (PA) for failing to uphold its Oslo Accords commitment to combat terrorism against Israel. Sa’ar emphasized that the PA has largely neglected to imprison convicted terrorists living under its jurisdiction.
“So, the concept was to give them independence, and they will take care of the security. But not only didn’t they do that, but our security situation deteriorated because every place we left became a huge base of terrorism,” Sa’ar assessed.
While much of the international community views the PA as “moderate,” the PA has contributed to tensions by allowing rhetoric hostile to Israel and by maintaining its controversial pay-for-slay policy for Palestinians imprisoned for attacks on Israelis. Supporters of the policy describe it as social welfare for families, while opponents contend it incentivizes violence.
“We will have to live with the consequences,” Sa’ar continued, “and when they are giving slogans like ‘We will give you a state, but without Hamas’, who will enforce that?” Sa’ar asked with skepticism.
Sa’ar also reminded the international audience that Israeli [near Gaza] border communities are vulnerable to terrorism due to their close proximity to the Gaza border. “It’s like running 1 mile, 2 miles, and you can kill Jews,” he said.
“So, it is extremely dangerous for Israeli security, and this is why this idea that once was more popular, in Israel almost no one supports that,” he explained.
Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 Israelis during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The overwhelming number were civilians who resided in the nearby Israeli border communities or attended the adjacent Nova Music Festival.
Earlier this month at the United Nations Security Council, the Israeli foreign minister blasted the growing international push to recognize a Palestinian state, arguing that such a move would effectively reward Hamas.
He added that such pressure undermines genuine peace and efforts to secure the release of the remaining 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
