Responding to Netanyahu, US hopes Israel will seize ‘historic opportunity’ to secure future
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

The Biden administration hits back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the premier’s latest remarks against the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“There is no way to solve [Israel’s] long-term challenges to provide lasting security, and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza, of establishing governance in Gaza and of providing security for Gaza, without the establishment of a Palestinian state,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says upon being asked to respond to Netanyahu at a press briefing.
Roughly an hour earlier, Netanyahu had been asked to respond to an NBC News report that said the US was planning for a post-Netanyahu era after he rejected a proposal that would’ve seen Saudi Arabia help with the reconstruction of Gaza after the war and normalize relations with Israel if Jerusalem agreed to create a pathway for an eventual Palestinian state.
Netanyahu boasted of having stood up to American pressure in the past and said those who speak of a post-Netanyahu era are referring to one in which a Palestinian state will be established, again suggesting that his continued tenure as prime minister is what is standing in the way of a two-state solution.
Miller says that in meetings with Arab leaders during his trip to the Middle East last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken managed to secure commitments from countries in the region who said “they would participate in the reconstruction of Gaza, that they would participate in helping establish Palestinian-led governance of Gaza but that they would only do that if there was a tangible path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
“For the first time in its history, you see the countries in the region who are ready to step up and further integrate with Israel and provide real security assurances to Israel and the United States is ready to play its part too, but they all have to have a willing partner on the other side,” Miller continues.
“There is a historic opportunity that Israel has to deal with… and we hope the country will take that opportunity,” he adds.