Palestinian Statehood Remains Sticking Point in Israel’s Normalization Hopes

Israel’s aspiration to normalize ties with Syria and Lebanon faces a persistent obstacle: the demand for Palestinian statehood. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar confirmed Israel’s interest on Monday but declared the Golan Heights non-negotiable, a position that immediately clashes with the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which links normalization to a Palestinian state and withdrawal from occupied territories.
The Israeli push for broader regional ties is framed by a belief that Iran’s recent weakening, particularly after the 12-day war, creates an opening for new diplomatic alignments. This strategy comes amid a turbulent period for the Middle East, marked by the Gaza conflict, Israeli operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the overthrow of Iran-backed Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
Saar articulated Israel’s desire to incorporate Syria and Lebanon into the “circle of peace” while safeguarding its security interests. This aligns with a pattern of expanding diplomatic reach, following the 2020 Abraham Accords that saw the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco establish ties with Israel, albeit to widespread public disapproval in the Arab world.
However, a senior Syrian official stressed that any normalization must be part of the comprehensive Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israeli Foreign Minister Saar explicitly rejected conditioning normalization on Palestinian statehood, arguing it would “threaten the security of the State of Israel,” thus revealing the fundamental ideological gulf hindering progress.