Gideon Sa’ar: Two-state solution an ‘illusion’, Israel from river to the sea

Likud hopeful Gideon Sa’ar said yesterday that the two-state solution is an “illusion” and stressed the boundaries of the state of Israel are “between the river [Jordan] and the [Mediterranean] Sea”.

Sa’ar, who seeks to take over leadership of the Likud party from Benjamin Netanyahu, said: “Throughout the world they say that a two-state solution remains the path to an agreement, but I have to say to you, this is not a position that helps anyone. Two-states is an illusion.”

Arab48 reported that Sa’ar had claimed that the two-state proposal was initiated in 1937, during the British Mandate, and was discussed during the governments of Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert and Netanyahu.

The Times of Israel reported Sa’ar saying that decades of peace talks around the two-state solution failed, blaming the Palestinians for “never being able to agree to a compromise, despite very generous offers.”

READ: US Congress advances resolution endorsing two-states for Israelis and Palestinians

Sa’ar also rebuked Netanyahu for claiming that the two-state solution was the only existing one for more than a decade, referring to Netanyahu’s famous speech at Bar-Ilan University in 2009 when he expressed support for a Palestinian state.

He also claimed that Netanyahu has made “endless concessions” to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, including a freeze on settlement building.

The proposed alternative by Sa’ar was a solution which should be an autonomous Palestinian entity linked together in a federation with Jordan, stressing: “Between the Jordan River and the [Mediterranean] Sea there cannot be another state.”