Netanyahu dismisses idea of Palestinian state ‘committed to our destruction at our doorstep’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledges disagreements with Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, dismissing the idea of a state “committed to our destruction at our doorstep.”

“We have a different point of view, obviously, because the purpose of a Palestinian state is to destroy the one and only Jewish state,” Netanyahu says alongside Merz at a press conference in Jerusalem.

“They already had a state in Gaza, a de facto state, and it was used to try to destroy a one and only Jewish state. We believe there’s a path to advance a broader peace with the Arab states, and a path also to establish a workable peace with our Palestinian neighbors, but we’re not going to create a state that will be committed to our destruction at our doorstep,” he says.

Netanyahu insists Israel will maintain security between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. He says that annexation of the West Bank remains a subject of discussion, with the status quo expected to remain for the foreseeable future.