By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Outgoing Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns” of Palestinians for the long term sustainability of Israel.
“And the idea that Israel is going to be able to sustain itself for the long term without accommodating the Palestinian question … It’s not going to happen,” Biden, who hands over to Republican President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, said in an interview on MSNBC.
“And I kept reminding my friend, and he is a friend, although we don’t agree a whole lot lately, Bibi Netanyahu, that he has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns of a large group of people called Palestinians, who have no place to live independently.”
Biden faced criticism from multiple human rights advocates for his military and diplomatic support for Israel during its military assault on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands and led to accusations of war crimes and genocide. Israel denies the accusations.
Biden has at times been critical of Netanyahu but maintained firm support for Washington’s ally. Washington said on Thursday it expected a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to go into effect on Sunday.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while displacing nearly its entire population and causing a hunger crisis.
The United States has for decades backed a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians that would create a state for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel.
Netanyahu says Israel must have security control over all land west of the Jordan River, which would preclude a sovereign Palestinian state.
The International Court of Justice says Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there are illegal.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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