Netanyahu Draws Red Line for Ending War in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly informed the White House that he opposes a post-war Palestinian state.

On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a surprise attack in the south of Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking hostages. The subsequent Israeli military response in Gaza has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians, according to the Associated Press, with around 85 percent of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million people displaced.

The conflict has escalated to other countries, with the United States and its allies carrying out attacks on Houthi bases in Yemen after the Houthis targeted shipping in the Red Sea in response to the war.

On Thursday, Netanyahu said during a nationally televised news conference that he told the U.S. that he not only rejected Palestinian statehood but also vowed to continue the military offensive until Israel "realizes a decisive victory over Hamas."

"In any future arrangement...Israel needs security control over all territory west of the Jordan," Netanyahu said in a nationally broadcast news conference, the AP reported. "This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do?"

"The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our friends," Netanyahu added.

Newsweek reached out to Netanyahu's office. The U.S. State Department declined to comment to Newsweek, instead referring to comments made by spokesperson Matthew Miller during a January 18 press briefing.

"Israel faces some very difficult choices in the months ahead," Miller said, referencing Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent trip to Tel Aviv. "The conflict in Gaza is going to end; it will end. And at the end of that conflict, someone is going to have to rebuild Gaza. Someone is going to have to govern Gaza. Someone is going to have to provide security in Gaza."

Blinken reportedly secured commitments from other countries in the region that expressed wanting to participate in the reconstruction of Gaza, but only if there was a tangible path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"The opportunity that Israel has right now before it is that, 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," Miller added. "And the United States is ready to play its part too, but they all have to have a willing partner on the other side."

Netanyahu's newest remarks spark strong contrast to the recently iterated views of the White House.

On Tuesday, while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the Biden administration's post-war strategy in Gaza was for "normalization [between Israel and Saudi Arabia] tied to a political horizon for the Palestinians."

Sullivan said a four-pronged approach would encompass that strategy: Gaza would never be used for terror attacks on Israel, peace between Israel and the Arab countries in the region, a state for the Palestinians, and security assurances for Israel.

"I know it is hard to imagine right now, but this is the only path that provides peace and security to all. It can be done," Sullivan said. "The pieces are there to put together. Not years down the road but in the nearer term if all of us pull together and make bold decisions."

After Netanyahu told Blinken last week that he couldn't commit to the establishment of a Palestinian state, Blinken reportedly said that Hamas cannot only be extinguished militarily and that Israeli leaders are exercising failure by repeating history, according to NBC News.

Jon Hoffman, foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, told Newsweek via email that Netanyahu's remarks are problematic for multiple reasons.

For one, he said, the prime minister's goal of "decisive victory over Hamas" is not just ill-defined but virtually impossible.

"Through its indiscriminate killing of civilians and eliminating any prospect at political negotiation, Israel is more likely to plant the seeds of future armed resistance than degrade the military capabilities or political position of Hamas," Hoffman said.

He added: "Netanyahu's refusal to entertain a two-state solution, which he prides himself on preventing, or any other political solution only leaves the option of perpetual war in Gaza, which might be favored by the embattled prime minister."

Joe Biden's willingness to course correct amid domestic and international outcry, including calls across the globe for a ceasefire, is "doubtful," according to Hoffman, citing how the president has relatively remained in lockstep with Israel since the October 7 attacks.

Noura Erakat, an associate professor at Rutgers University specializing in international studies, told Newsweek that the U.S. is already dealing with its own democratic crisis and that calls for a Gaza ceasefire are essentially being ignored.

She said Israel is showing that it "is not just making bad choices but threatening international peace and security."

"I think it's very significant and should trouble anyone paying attention that Netanyahu is committing to continuing a military campaign, even in light of the Hague deciding it is genocidal and should be investigated more," Erakat said. "Netanyahu is basically telling the world that it has no impact on what it can tell Israel."

Netanyahu's newest remarks may also hinder Biden politically due to not being able to show he can exert influence on the Israeli government, she added—let alone on other major nations.

"It's an absolute crisis of democracy domestically and internationally. The U.S. is further isolating itself on the international stage," she said.

"If the U.S. is not gonna be part of the solution, it should not be part of the problem."

Update 1/19/24, 12:31 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Noura Erakat.