Sa’ar says Palestinian state not a ‘realistic’ goal during Gaza war

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state as a “realistic” goal, amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

“I don’t think this position is realistic today and we must be realistic,” the newly appointed minister said in response to a question over the creation of a Palestinian state in exchange for a normalization of ties between Israel and Arab countries.

A Palestinian state would be “a Hamas state,” Saar adds, referring to the Palestinian terror group in Gaza with which Israel has been at war for more than a year, following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, shock assault on southern Israel.

The normalization drive was a part of the 2020 Abraham Accords overseen by Donald Trump and the process could resume after he returns to the White House following last week’s US presidential election.

While Sa’ar spoke in Jerusalem, Arab and Muslim leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia for a summit addressing the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel is also fighting Hamas ally the terror group Hezbollah.