Energy Minister Eli Cohen (Likud), who until recently served as Israel's Foreign Minister, believes that Israel should oppose in the strongest possible way any step that would lead to the recognition or establishment of a Palestinian state.
"The United States is a great friend of Israel and we have seen this throughout the war. At the same time, even among friends, there are also different opinions. The Biden administration believes in the two-state solution, and we tell them, especially after October 7, that a Palestinian state will not be established. Just as no one thought of giving a state to Al Qaeda after September 11, it is impossible to offer a state to the Palestinians after October 7. We have no intention of establishing another Hamastan in Judea and Samaria," Cohen said in an interview with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News.
He added that "if the price for the expansion of regional peace agreements is the establishment of a Palestinian state, I [say to] give up the expansion [of the Abraham Accords] and the normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia. As someone who knows foreign relations, I say that it is possible to bring a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia without the establishment of a state and it is first and foremost in the Saudi interest."
Minister Cohen noted with satisfaction the significant international support for Israel since the Hamas massacre and throughout the war. "We have never seen an outpouring of such significant support as we had here after October 7. Most of the free, enlightened, Western, and liberal world supports the elimination of Hamas in a significant way. Even the Arab countries next to us, although they cannot say it openly, support in a substantial way the elimination of Hamas, because the same branches of Iran that threaten us also threaten them."... Read More: Arutz-7