A flood of condemnations came out of the Arab world in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion that, if Palestinians want an independent state, they should establish it in Saudi Arabia. “The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there,” Netanyahu said in a Feb. 6 interview from Washington with Israel’s Channel 14.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry issued an [official statement]https://x.com/KSAmofaEN/status/1888451414717788364) on Feb. 9 in response, expressing its “categorical rejection” of Netanyahu’s remarks. Saudi Arabia “appreciates the condemnation, disapproval and total rejection” by neighboring countries, and “values the positions that emphasize the centrality of the Palestinian issue to the Arab and Muslim countries,” the statement read. It otherwise condemned Israel’s “continues crimes” and “ethnic cleansing” against the Palestinians.
The Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit echoed Saudi Arabia’s statement, saying on Feb. 9 that the thinking behind Netanyahu’s remarks “is unacceptable and reflects a complete detachment from reality,” according to The National news site from U.A.E.
