New Delhi:
Saudi Arabia has rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion that the kingdom hosts the Palestinian state in its own territory. In a statement issued on Sunday (February 9), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said that Netanyahu’s statement “aims to divert attention from the continuous crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including the ethnic cleansing they are subjected to.”
The Kingdom affirmed that the Palestinian people have a “right to their land”, and they are “not intruders or immigrants” who can be expelled whenever the “brutal Israeli occupation wishes”.
#Statement | The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia appreciates the condemnation, disapproval and total rejection announced by the brotherly countries towards what Benjamin Netanyahu stated regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people from their land and the Kingdom values the… pic.twitter.com/ebj2sVHx4w
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) February 9, 2025
The Kingdom’s statement came in response to Netanyahu’s remarks during a television interview on Thursday. While discussing the prospect of diplomatic normalisation with Saudi Arabia, right-wing Israeli journalist Yaakov Bardugo misspoke by saying “no progress without a Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state”.
Netanyahu corrected him and added, “Unless you want the Palestinian state to be in Saudi Arabia. They (the Saudis) have plenty of territory.”
The statement drew flak from several Arab countries.
Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Sunday that the thinking behind Netanyahu’s remarks “is unacceptable and reflects a complete detachment from reality”, adding that such ideas “are nothing more than mere fantasies or illusions”.
Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned and called it a “clear violation of international law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the sovereignty of states.” The ministry stressed that the Palestinians have the “right to establish an independent and sovereign state”.
دانت وزارة الخارجية وشؤون المغتربين بأشد العبارات التصريحات الإسرائيلية المعادية لحق الفلسطينيين بإقامة دولتهم المستقلة وذات السيادة على ترابهم الوطني، والدعوات العدوانية لإقامتها على أراضي المملكة العربية السعودية، باعتبارها دعوات تحريضية مدانة، تمثل خرقاً فاضحاً للقانون الدولي… pic.twitter.com/kyF7tx1FpS
— وزارة الخارجية وشؤون المغتربين الأردنية (@ForeignMinistry) February 8, 2025
The UAE too denounced the “reprehensible and provocative” Israeli statements towards the Saudi Arabia.
دولة الإمارات تُدين وتستنكر بشدة التصريحات الإسرائيلية المستهجنة والمستفزة تجاه المملكة العربية السعودية الشقيقةhttps://t.co/KHb9OtvOEX pic.twitter.com/JE7hGidYVH
— MoFA وزارة الخارجية (@mofauae) February 8, 2025
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry appreciated the “condemnation, disapproval and total rejection” announced by neighbouring countries. It pointed out that the “extremist, occupying mentality does not understand what the Palestinian land means” to the brotherly people of Palestine.
Saudi Arabia said that Israel doesn’t think that the Palestinian people “deserve to live” as it has completely “destroyed the Gaza Strip”.
The Kingdom reiterated that no one will be able to take away the rights of the Palestinian People.
