Benjamin Netanyahu has sparked criticism from Saudi Arabia after suggesting that a Palestinian state could be established there as they have “a lot of land.”
Speaking to a pro-government channel over the weekend, Israel’s prime minister replied to a slip of the tongue by the interviewer who said there would be no advance on normalisation with Saudi Arabia without a “Saudi state”.
“You mean a Palestinian state, unless of course you want a Palestinian state to be in Saudi?,” laughed the Israeli PM.
“They have a lot of land there, a lot of land,” he saidin an interview with Channel 14.
In a statement the Saudi foreign ministry rejected the suggestion that it could take Palestinians, and accused Netanyahu of trying to “divert attention” from Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The statement added “the Palestinian people have a right to their land, and they are not intruders or immigrants to it who can be expelled whenever the brutal Israeli occupation wishes”.
Prior to the October 7 Hamas attacks Saudi Arabia looked to be heading towards a normalisation deal with Israel.
But the Saudis have reiterated they will not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
On Sunday, Donald Trump doubled-down on his claim he was committed to “buying and owning” Gaza and turning it into a “good site for future development”.
Trump again insisted he is committed to “owning” Gaza which he described as a “real estate site”.
