An Israeli armored personnel carrier moves along the border with the Gaza Strip, as seen from a position on the Israeli side of the border on November 11, 2024 in Southern Israel, Israel.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday (November 11, 2024) rejected 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 normalisation of ties between Israel and Arab countries.

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A Palestinian state would be “a Hamas state”, Mr. Saar added, referring to the Palestinian militant group in Gaza with which Israel has been at war for more than a year.

The normalisation 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 he 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 Hezbollah.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry announced plans for the summit in late October during a meeting, also in Riyadh, of a new “international alliance” to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The current war in Gaza erupted with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year, which resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 43,603 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, began firing on Israel after the October 7 attack.

The regular cross-border exchanges escalated in late September when Israel intensified its air strikes and sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.

Jerusalem:

A former minister and rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined the government on Sunday, strengthening the current coalition as Israel fights militant groups on multiple fronts.

Gideon Saar, who has held several ministerial posts in past governments, joined the cabinet again as a minister without portfolio.

“I appreciate the fact that Gideon Saar has answered my request and agreed today to return to the government,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

“This move contributes to unity within us and unity against our enemies.”

Saar’s return gives Netanyahu an additional four seats in Israel’s parliament, bringing his total to 68 out of 120.

This makes Netanyahu less vulnerable to a defection from far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has repeatedly threatened to bring down the government if it agrees to a truce deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip or Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

But Saar, considered more right-wing than Netanyahu, has hawkish tendencies and has spoken out in favour of the annexation of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Just five years ago Saar openly challenged Netanyahu for leadership of Israel’s right-wing Likud party.

Although he took part in the emergency government formed in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack that triggered the war in Gaza, he joined the opposition in March after failing to get a seat in the war cabinet.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Gideon Saar. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin on Sunday appointed a former rival, Gideon Saar, as a member of his Cabinet. The move expands Netanyahu’s governing coalition and helps entrench the Israeli leader in office.

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Under their agreement, Mr. Netanyahu said Mr. Saar would be given a spot in the Security cabinet, the body that oversees the management of the ongoing war.

Mr. Saar had hoped to replace Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, another rival of Netanyahu’s. But a deal to become defense minister fell through several week ago after fighting intensified with Hezbollah.

A veteran Israeli minister who joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency unity government after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack said on Monday he had resigned after not being included in the highest-level war cabinet.

Gideon Saar joined the unity government along with several other members of the opposition to help manage the war on Hamas in Gaza.

Mr. Saar’s departure, along with another of his allies, is not expected to affect the stability of Netanyahu’s government, which still controls a clear majority in parliament.

Mr. Saar was once a rival to Netanyahu in the right-wing Likud party before joining a more centrist bloc led by former military chief Benny Gantz. Together they entered the emergency government. Gantz became a member of the small-forum, decision-making war cabinet while Saar was left out.

“I can’t carry the responsibility if I do not have, in my judgment, a real possibility to influence the direction of policy. I simply do not see any benefit in this,” Mr. Saar said in broadcast remarks.

His resignation did not come as a surprise, as Mr. Saar had broken up the alliance with Gantz earlier this month.