'The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia," says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that Palestinians should establish their state in Saudi Arabia rather than in their own homeland dismissing any notion of Palestinian sovereignty.

"The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there,” Netanyahu said on Thursday during an interview with Israeli Channel 14 disregarding the long-standing Palestinian demands for self-determination.

When asked whether a Palestinian state was necessary for normalization with Saudi Arabia, he rejected the idea outright framing it as a “security threat to Israel.”

“Especially not a Palestinian state. After Oct. 7? Do you know what that is? There was a Palestinian state, it was called Gaza. Gaza, led by Hamas, was a Palestinian state and look what we got," he claimed, ruling out the creation of a Palestinian state yet again.

Read more: Israel directs army to plan strategy for Palestinians to voluntarily leave Gaza

Netanyahu also spoke about potential normalization with Saudi Arabia predicting an imminent agreement.

"I think peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not only feasible, I think it's going to happen," he said.

However, the Saudi Foreign Ministry had dismissed Netanyahu’s narrative reiterating that normalization with Israel was off the table unless a Palestinian state was established -- a stance Netanyahu continues to disregard.

Meanwhile, Egypt, named by Trump as a possible destination for Palestinians, launched an intense diplomatic campaign to block the plan from advancing.