In final interview, Biden lectures Israel on ‘accommodating’ Palestinians

Biden said that Israel would be unable to thrive in the long term without dealing with the “Palestinian question.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

In his last interview as President, Joe Biden told MSNBC that Israel must “accommodate legitimate concerns of Palestinians.”

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns of Palestinians for the long-term sustainability of Israel,” he declared.

Biden also said that Israel would be unable to thrive in the long term without dealing with the “Palestinian question.”

Speaking about his sometimes fractious relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said, “I kept reminding my friend, and he is a friend, although we don’t agree on a whole lot lately, Bibi Netanyahu, that he has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns of a large group of people called Palestinians, who have no place to live independently.”

President Joe Biden signed an executive order extending sanctions on a group of Israeli settlers living in Judea and Samaria, accusing them of “extremism” that undermines American foreign policy and the prospects for a two-state solution.

The sanctions, which target Israeli Jews labeled as “extremists” by the Biden administration, were extended less than a week before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office.

Biden initially signed the executive order on February 1, 2024, allowing federal authorities to freeze assets and block transactions involving individuals deemed by the U.S. government to be “extremist Israeli settlers.”

Claims from left-wing NGOs in Israel prompted the move and reports from the United Nations, which accused settlers in Judea and Samaria of engaging in violence and harassment against Palestinian Arabs following the October 7 attacks.

On Tuesday, Biden issued a statement announcing the extension of the sanctions for another year, describing the actions of the sanctioned settlers as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy.

“The situation in the West Bank — in particular high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction — has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region,” Biden claimed.