Deputy envoy to US: Israelis aren’t willing to discuss two-state solution after Oct. 7

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — A senior Israeli diplomat tells Republican Party members that Israelis are not willing to talk about a two-state solution after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

The stance has been voiced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other right-wing lawmakers but seems to be less common for Israel’s non-political diplomatic corps.

The position is also at odds with the policy being advanced by the Biden administration, which views the establishment of a pathway to a future Palestinian state as an essential component of its vision for how the Israel-Hamas war should draw to a close.

“On the Palestinian front, at the end of the day, yes, we are interested in finding some kind of horizon and a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to the US Eliav Benjamin says in an address hosted by the American Jewish Committee on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“But let me be also very clear, especially right after October 7, talks about a two-state solution are not talks that any Israeli is willing to talk about at this point,” Benjamin says.

“The outcome of October 7 cannot be an independent Palestinian state. It will not be the outcome. Yes, we are looking for a way forward, also for the benefit of the Palestinian people — first and foremost on the economic level, we work tirelessly on this, and we will continue to do so also moving forward,” the Israeli diplomat says.

“But and here’s the big but: we do need to find a relevant and reliable partner on the other side. We need to see a real, reformed Palestinian Authority or some other entity… that is willing to denounce terrorism, to stop paying for terrorists and their families and to really move forward with the idea of coexistence,” Benjamin adds.