Israel rejects US-backed call for ‘pathway’ to Palestinian state
"Israel will not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel," said Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar.
By Akiva Van Koningsveld
JNS
Nov 16, 2025
Jerusalem will not allow a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, rejecting a U.S.-backed statement calling for a “pathway” for creating “Palestine.”
“Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any territory west of the Jordan River exists, is firm, and has not changed in the slightest,” Netanyahu stated, speaking ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
“I have been pushing back against these attempts for decades, doing so against external pressure as well as internal pressure. So I don’t need encouragement, tweets, or lectures from anyone,” Netanyahu added.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had declared earlier on Sunday that the Jewish state would “not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian terror state in the heart of the Land of Israel, at point-blank distance from all of its population centers and with topographical control over them.”
Jerusalem’s top diplomat noted that Israel Defense Forces troops were working to destroy three Iran-backed terrorist states: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Earlier on Sunday morning, Defense Minister Israel Katz tweeted, “Israel’s policy is clear: A Palestinian state will not be established.
“Gaza will be demilitarized down to the last tunnel, and Hamas will be disarmed—in the ‘yellow area’ by the IDF, and in ‘old Gaza’ by the international force, or by the IDF,” the defense minister added.
The “yellow area” refers to the area inside the so-called yellow line, slightly over 50% of Gaza’s territory, to which Israeli forces withdrew as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Katz also said Israel Defense Forces soldiers would remain on Mount Hermon and in the security zone in Syria to protect the Jewish state’s northern border following the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024.
In a joint statement arranged by the United States on Friday, eight nations working toward ending the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip expressed their support for Washington’s proposed International Stabilization Force.
According to the statement, signed by Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey, the process “offers a pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
The joint statement appeared to go further than U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, which Jerusalem has approved, by not leaving Palestinian statehood up for debate.
Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the statement on Friday, saying that it affirmed “the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and to establish their independent State of Palestine.”
On Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most senior right-wing coalition partners called on the premier to make it clear that Jerusalem would not agree to establish a Palestinian state.
“Mr. Prime Minister … Formulate an appropriate and resolute response immediately that will make clear to the whole world that a Palestinian state will never be established,” stated Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads the country’s Religious Zionist Party.
Smotrich noted that on Sept. 21, after several countries led by France announced their unilateral recognition of “Palestine,” Netanyahu had “pledged to respond firmly” when he returned to Israel from the United States.
“Since then, two months have passed in which you have chosen silence and diplomatic disgrace,” he tweeted. “The deterioration we are now seeing on this issue is dangerous, and it is your responsibility and the result of your silence.”
(L-R) Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the Otzma Yehudit Party, said that he would not be part of any Israeli government that gives tacit approval to Palestinian statehood.
“I call on the prime minister to make clear that the State of Israel will not permit the establishment of a Palestinian state in any form,” he tweeted.
Ben-Gvir’s post noted “there is no such thing as a ‘Palestinian people’—it is an invention with no historical, archaeological, or factual basis. A collection of migrants from Arab countries to the Land of Israel does not constitute a people, and they certainly do not deserve a prize for the terror, murder and atrocities they have sown everywhere, especially from Gaza, the place where they were granted self-rule.”
The only real solution in Gaza, the tweet continued, “is encouraging voluntary emigration, and certainly not a reward state for terror that would serve as a base for continued terrorism.”
Early last year, Israeli Knesset lawmakers voted 99-11 to reject unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood. All coalition lawmakers and most members of Zionist opposition parties voted against “international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.”
In July, a majority of 71 out of 120 Knesset members from the coalition and opposition passed a non-binding resolution in favor of applying Jerusalem’s sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
In addition, the parliament last month approved in preliminary reading two bills to formally annex parts of Judea and Samaria. The proposed legislation has been sent to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for consideration ahead of three additional votes.
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