Netanyahu rules out Palestinian state but wavers on annexation

During joint press conference with German chancellor, Israel’s prime minister responds to pressure not to annex Judea and Samaria, says Israel will not accept establishment of a Palestinian state.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Germany’s chancellor over the weekend that Israel will not accept the establishment of a Palestinian state, while appearing to waver on the question of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.

On Sunday, Netanyahu hosted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, before the two leaders held a joint press conference.

During their meeting, the two leaders discussed Germany’s acquisition of the Israeli-made Arrow 3 missile defense system, trade between the two countries, and the future of the Trump administration’s Gaza peace plan.

While addressing reporters after the meeting, Merz reiterated Berlin’s support for the two-state solution, urging Israel to commit not to annex Judea and Samaria and calling on Netanyahu to signal support for Palestinian statehood.

The Israeli premier firmly rejected Merz’s request to endorse Palestinian statehood, while adding that the question of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria remains “a subject of discussion.”

“In fact, there is no change of the status quo,” Netanyahu responded. “Israel today controls the security between the Jordan River and the sea.”

“That is why you don’t have terrorism exploding from Judea and Samaria.”

“I said that principle, in the foreseeable future, will stay. It has nothing to do with the question of political annexation. That remains a subject of discussion.”

Netanyahu downplayed claims that without agreeing to Palestinian statehood, Israel will be unable to normalize relations with additional Arab states, noting that the Abraham Accords were established despite Israel’s staunch opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Merz, who recently dropped a partial arms embargo his own government imposed on Israel earlier this year, said that Germany “will therefore always stand for the existence and security of Israel.”

While the German chancellor said his country supports the two-state solution, he rejected the push to recognize unilateral Palestinian statehood, emphasizing that such a state must only be established as the end result of negotiations and a final-status agreement between Israel and Ramallah.

“We have a different point of view, obviously, because the purpose of a Palestinian state is to destroy the one and only Jewish state,” Netanyahu said in response.

“They already had a state in Gaza… and it was used to try to destroy [Israel]. We’re not going to create a state that will be committed to our destruction at our doorstep.”