Israel-US rift widens as Netanyahu doubles down on 'no-Palestine' rhetoric

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday rejected calls from the United States to scale back Israel’s invasion of Gaza or take steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state after the war, drawing an immediate scolding from the White House.

The tense back and forth reflected what has become a wide rift between the two allies over the scope of Israel’s war and its plans for the future of the beleaguered territory.

“We obviously see it differently,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said. Netanyahu spoke just a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel would never have “genuine security” without a pathway toward Palestinian independence.

In a nationally televised news conference, Netanyahu struck a defiant tone, repeatedly saying that Israel would not halt its offensive until it realised its goals of destroying Hamas and bringing home all remaining hostages.

Israel's war on Gaza

Israel launched the offensive after an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage.

The war has stoked tensions across the region, threatening to ignite other conflicts. Israel's assault, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinian civilians, according to Gaza health authorities, caused widespread destruction and uprooted over 80 percent of the territory’s 2.3 million people from their homes.

The staggering cost of the war has led to increasing calls from the international community to halt the brutal offensive.

Two-state solution

After initially giving Israel wall-to-wall support in the early days of the war, the United States, Israel’s closest ally, has begun to express misgivings and urged Netanyahu to spell out his vision for postwar Gaza.

The United States has said the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, which governs semi-autonomous zones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should be “revitalised” and return to Gaza.

Without a “pathway to a Palestinian state,” he said, Israel would not “get genuine security.” At the same conference, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said the kingdom is ready to establish full relations with Israel as part of a larger political agreement.

“But that can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state,” he said.

Netanyahu's far-right gov't opposes to State of Palestine

Netanyahu, who leads a far-right government opposed to Palestinian statehood, repeated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution. He said a Palestinian state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel.

He said Israel "must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River,” adding: “That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?”

“This truth I tell to our American friends, and I put the brakes on the attempt to coerce us to a reality that would endanger the state of Israel,” he said.

The comments prompted an immediate rebuke from the White House. Kirby said that President Joe Biden would “not stop working” toward a two-state solution.

Israel's genocide trial

Before Oct. 7, Israeli society was bitterly divided over Netanyahu’s plan for a judicial overhaul. Since the attack, the country has rallied behind the war. But divisions have once again begun to surface over Netanyahu’s handling of the war.

Families of the hostages and their many supporters have called for a new ceasefire that could bring them home. Hamas released over 100 hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons during a weeklong ceasefire in November.

Commentators have begun to question whether Netanyahu’s objectives are realistic, given the slow pace of the offensive and growing international criticism, including genocide accusations at the United Nations world court, which Israel vehemently denies.

Netanyahu’s opponents accuse him of delaying any discussion of postwar scenarios to avoid looming investigations of governmental failures, keep his coalition intact and put off elections.

Polls show that the popularity of Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has plummeted during the war.