‘Anybody talking about a Palestinian state right now is living on another planet’

Kaatje · Mar 8, 2024

Remarks by former Israeli ambassador to the US come as President Biden again pushes a Palestinian state as “the only solution.”

There are three issues with talk about recognizing a Palestinian state—you simply cannot reward Oct. 7; you don’t want a single Palestinian to think that Oct. 7 advanced the Palestinian cause in any way; and they need to understand that Oct. 7 set the cause back significantly. Anybody talking about a Palestinian state right now is living on another planet because it will be the greatest reward for terrorism. That the international community will reward somebody for doing what was done on Oct. 7; would be a complete disaster. If tomorrow, there would be a Palestinian state, it would be a clear and present danger to the Jewish state.
And I think it has to be opposed whether you are ultimately for a two-state solution or not. It has to be opposed because to do this now would be a huge, huge mistake.

Anybody who cares about peace should not want a single Palestinian in five years, 10 years, 15 years or 20 years to look back on Oct. 7 and say that event—the mass murder of Jews—catapulted the Palestinian national movement forward. You cannot let the Palestinians believe that terror—that a pogrom like Oct. 7—advanced the Palestinian cause in any way. They need to understand that Oct. 7 set the cause back significantly. And my issue is not just what Hamas did on Oct. 7. Eighty-five percent of the Palestinians in the West Bank support what happened on Oct. 7.

So, anybody who would now consider unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state is decoupling the issue of statehood from peace. That would be a great gift to the Palestinians. It will make them think that Oct. 7 advanced their national movement and will ensure that we never have peace. Taking an irreversible step now towards a Palestinian state when they have not changed at all is a huge mistake.