Secretary of State Antony Blinken made another argument in favor of the “extraordinary opportunity” to establish a Palestinian state Saturday.
Blinken appealed to Israel during the Munich Security Conference when he brought up the Biden administration’s attempts to strike a deal with Saudi Arabia and Israel to revive the Palestinian Authority. Qatar and Egypt have also been involved in negotiations with the United States to release hostages in Gaza held by Hamas.
“Virtually every Arab country now genuinely wants to integrate Israel into the region to normalize relations . . . to provide security commitments and assurances so that Israel can feel more safe,” Blinken said. “And there’s also, I think, the imperative, that’s more urgent than ever, to proceed to a Palestinian state that also ensures the security of Israel.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has seemingly ruffled at news of such a deal. Netanyahu and other senior officials have brushed off suggestions of a two-state solution.
“Now is not the time to be speaking about gifts to the Palestinian people, at a time when the Palestinian Authority themselves have yet to even condemn the Oct. 7 massacre,” Netanyahu spokesman Avi Hyman said earlier this week. “Now is the time for victory, total victory over Hamas . . . All discussions of the day after Hamas will be had the day after Hamas.”
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The Palestinian Authority previously rejected Israel’s proposals for a two-state solution in 2000 and 2008. It remains to be seen how it would respond to future proposals now that some 27,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict with Israel since Oct. 7, per the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.
President Joe Biden has shared his disagreement with Netanyahu’s decision to begin strikes in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that many Palestinians relocated to in order to avoid violence. Biden discouraged Israel from initiating a “massive land invasion” there until there was a plan to evacuate civilians and remaining hostages.
