Minister: Saudi peace possible within a year, but without Palestinian state and after ‘overwhelming victory’ in war

Amid tensions with the US over the possibility of a Palestinian state, Energy Minister Eli Cohen blasts the notion, saying that “no responsible leader would establish another Hamastan state in Judea and Samaria.”

“Some of the countries that call for the establishment of a Palestinian state said that Gaza would become Singapore, but instead of Singapore we got Hamastan,” the former foreign minister says in a speech at an energy conference. “I haven’t heard even one leader of those countries demand that the Palestinian Authority stop paying salaries to terrorists.”

(The US and other Western countries have repeatedly urged Ramallah to end the practice.)

Cohen also says that peace with Saudi Arabia is possible within the year, but “peace is only made with the strong. That is why it is important to continue the war until overwhelming victory.”