The U.S. State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, issued a blunt statement rejecting the calls from some European countries for a “two-state solution,” vis-à-vis Israel and the Palestinian population.
The United Nations, whose vehement anti-Israel actions have been on display for decades, is currently holding a conference, hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, to discuss the possibility of declaring a Palestinian state in the wake of the October 7, 2023, massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis by the terrorist group Hamas, who invaded Israel and slaughtered civilians while taking hundreds as hostages.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that in September, France would recognize a Palestinian state.
“This week, the UN will serve as host to an unproductive and ill-timed conference on the two-state solution in New York City,” the State Department stated. “This is a publicity stunt that comes in the middle of delicate diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Far from promoting peace, the conference will prolong the war, embolden Hamas, and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace.”
“As Secretary Rubio has made clear, this effort is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7 and a reward for terrorism. It keeps hostages trapped in tunnels. The United States will not participate in this insult but will continue to lead real-world efforts to end the fighting and deliver a permanent peace. Our focus remains on serious diplomacy: not stage-managed conferences designed to manufacture the appearance of relevance,” the statement continued.
“President Macron’s announcement about recognizing a Palestinian state was welcomed by Hamas. This reflects a pattern of counterproductive gestures that only emboldens Hamas, encourages its obstruction of a ceasefire, and greatly undercuts our diplomatic efforts to end the suffering in Gaza, free the hostages, and move the whole Middle East towards a brighter and more prosperous future,” the statement concluded.
“A Palestinian state is an existential threat to the State of Israel,” former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has stated. “A two-state solution is a dead letter; Israel has no margin of error, and the Palestinian leadership has proven unreliable as a peace partner.”
“Muslim countries have 644 times the amount of land that are controlled by Israel,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has stated. “So maybe, if there is such a desire for the Palestinian state, there would be someone who would say, we’d like to host it.”
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) declared in 2011, “Look, you have (Mahmoud) Abbas who says in the United Nations, ‘We do not necessarily concede Israel’s right to exist.’ You’ve had four PLA ambassadors around the world say flatly, ‘Israel does not have the right to exist.’ In late November, in India, the PLA ambassador said, ‘Anybody who thinks there’s a big gap between Hamas and Fatah is kidding themselves.’ You have to start with this question: ‘Who are you making peace with?’… If I’m even-handed between a civilian democracy that obeys the rule of law and a group of terrorists who are firing missiles every day, that’s not even-handed; that’s favoring the terrorists.”
He also stated, “Somebody ought to have the courage to tell the truth: These people are terrorists. They teach terrorism in their schools. They have textbooks that say, ‘If there are 13 Jews and nine Jews are killed, how many Jews are left?’… It’s fundamentally time for somebody to have the guts to stand up and say, ‘Enough lying about the Middle East.’”