US Support For ‘A Pathway To Palestinian Statehood’ Angers Israeli Right

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — In the wake of the impasse in implementing the second stage of the Gaza peace deal, the US has turned its attention to reviving diplomatic efforts to bring Saudi Arabia into the Abraham accords.

Such a breakthrough would require US support for a Palestinian state, and on Friday evening the US organized a joint statement, backed by Qatar, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey, which endorsed an American-led UN Security Council resolution establishing an International Stabilization Force in Gaza. The joint declaration stressed that Washington’s plan “offers a pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” and urged its “swift adoption” despite pushback from Russia and China.

The statement, which made no attempt to address Hamas responsibility for October 7 or demand an immediate regime change triggered intense criticism from Israel’s right-wing ministers and settlement leaders, who pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening to reject any proposal perceived as advancing Palestinian statehood.

Two of Netanyahu’s right-wing allies called on him to make an unequivocal public declaration that Israel will never accept the establishment of a Palestinian state. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accused Netanyahu of “silence and diplomatic disgrace” on the issue, arguing that the prime minister had failed to respond forcefully to recent unilateral recognitions of a Palestinian state by several countries.

Smotrich demanded that Netanyahu “immediately formulate an appropriate and decisive response that will make it clear to the entire world [that] a Palestinian state will never be established on the territory of our homeland.” vLast month, Smotrich declared that he wouldn’t agree to a normalization agreement if it meant the establishment of a Palestinian state, disparagingly saying the Saudis could “keep riding camels.” Smotrich later retracted the slur but not the sentiment he had expressed about a normalization agreement

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also joined the pressure campaign, declaring that “there is no such thing as a ‘Palestinian people’” and insisting that “they certainly do not deserve a reward for the terror, murder and atrocities they have sown everywhere.”

“The only real solution in Gaza is to encourage voluntary emigration,” he said, adding that his Otzma Yehudit party “will not be part of any government that agrees” to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Ben Gvir called on Netanyahu to make clear that Israel “will not allow a Palestinian state in any form.”

Culture Minister Miki Zohar of Netanyahu’s Likud party also expressed opposition to Palestinian statehood on Saturday, calling for normalization with Saudi Arabia “without recognizing a Palestinian state that would endanger our security.” He said such an agreement would “change the future of the Middle East for generations to come” if reached on terms Israel finds acceptable.

Unlike Smotrich, Ben Gvir and Zohar, who refrained from mentioning Trump in their statements,  coalition MK Avi Maoz accused the US president of “promoting a Palestinian terror state” in Judea and Samaria.

Additionally, the Yesha Council, the umbrella group representing local authorities in West Bank settlements, sharply criticized the notion of Palestinian statehood being linked to diplomacy with Saudi Arabia.

The organization accused the government of effectively accepting the creation of a Palestinian state in exchange for normalization with Riyadh and warned that silence over recent European recognitions was enabling its de facto establishment.

The council reiterated its longstanding position that “it’s either [Israeli] sovereignty or a Palestinian state,” and urged Netanyahu to publicly reaffirm that no Palestinian state would ever be established — a position he has consistently maintained.

On Friday, President Trump reiterated his hopes that Saudi Arabia will soon join the Abraham Accords, although Riyadh has made clear that it will not normalize relations without a roadmap toward Palestinian statehood, which Netanyahu has expressed opposition to in the past.

According to Axios, Trump urged bin Salman in a phone call last month to normalize relations with Israel following the October 9 Gaza ceasefire deal.