https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-02-15/ty-article-live/israeli-army-chief-were-focusing-on-being-prepared-for-war-in-the-north/0000018d-aac1-da6e-af9f-aac978980000 After 40-minute Call With Biden, Netanyahu Rejects 'International Diktats' on Palestinian State
Feb 15, 2024
Netanyahu: Israel rejects international diktats on final-status solution with the Palestinians
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded early Friday morning to what he referred to a "recent talk about forcing a Palestinian state on Israel."
Writing on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Netanyahu said that, as he had told members of his war cabinet on Thursday evening, "my position can be summed up in two sentences: 1. Israel rejects out of hand international diktats about a final-status solution with the Palestinians. Such an agreement will only be achieved through direct negotiations between the sides, with no preconditions. 2. Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks would be a huge prize for terror, the like of which we have never seen, and would prevent any future peace agreement."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Thursday with CIA director William Burns, who is visiting Israel. The meeting was also attended by Mossad chief David Barnea, who met earlier with Burns and officials from both countries, as well as the prime minister's military attaché. According to Netanyahu, the issue of medicine for Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip was raised at the meeting.
According to one diplomatic source, "one of the mediators proposed that we agree to additional humanitarian gestures in order to get Hamas closer to a deal, but Netanyahu told Burns that we will not advance any such move until we receive concrete proof that the hostages received the medicine that was sent to them. This is also one of the reasons that Israel did not send representatives of any level to the additional round [of talks] in Cairo."
The source added that, "the prime minister's policy of 'maximum pressure,' intense military pressure and firm pressure in the negotiations, is the only way to get the Hamas terror organization to back down from its delusional demands and to ensure the release of the hostages."