Rubio Shuts Down Palestinian State Push Without Israeli Deal

Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it crystal clear this week: there will be no Palestinian state without a negotiated agreement with Israel, and any global attempts to recognize one right now are nothing more than a political sideshow.

Appearing on CBS Mornings Tuesday, Rubio dismissed the flurry of European leaders rushing to “recognize” a Palestinian state as not only irrelevant, but actively harmful to peace negotiations already in progress.

“There is no Palestinian State, no matter how many papers they put out,” Rubio told host Tony Dokoupil. “The only time there will ever be one is if there’s a negotiation with Israel which right now is impossible because they have a war going on with Hamas, a terrorist group that butchered over 2,000 people on October 7th.”

That brutal massacre, funded and supported by Iran, is far from a historical footnote. It’s a brutal reminder of who Israel is up against and why calls to recognize a Palestinian state, especially now, are completely untethered from reality.

Rubio didn’t mince words about the motives behind the international push:

“It’s almost a vanity project for a couple of these world leaders who want to be relevant. But it really makes no difference.”

In fact, it’s making things worse.

Rubio pointed out that these premature recognitions have derailed ongoing negotiations and emboldened Hamas, making it harder for the terror group to be pressured into meaningful concessions.

“It actually derailed the talks that were going on… and made it even harder to get Hamas to enter into concessions that might have brought this to an end.”

Meanwhile, while world leaders chase headlines and virtue signal their "recognition" of a state that doesn’t exist, the only serious path forward remains blocked by violence, and made more complex by the international community’s refusal to acknowledge basic facts on the ground.

Rubio’s message? Only one man can lead this process successfully President Donald Trump.

“There is a window of opportunity right now… and the only leader in the world that can sort of broker that or bring that together is President Trump,” Rubio stated. “Every country in the region and frankly, every country in the world, including many of those involved in this recognition effort are begging the president to get involved in this issue.”

And he’s not wrong. When Trump was in office, we witnessed the Abraham Accords, a groundbreaking realignment of the Middle East that no career diplomat could have engineered. Trump didn’t just talk about peace he delivered tangible results. And those same world leaders now rushing to “recognize” Palestine? They were silent when Trump brought Israel and multiple Arab nations to the table.

Let’s be blunt: recognition without negotiation is worthless paper. It may earn a few claps in European parliaments, but it does nothing to ensure peace, security, or legitimacy in the Middle East.

As long as Hamas holds power in Gaza and remains committed to Israel’s destruction the idea of a peaceful, recognized Palestinian state is a fantasy. And the only man who’s proven capable of moving the region in the right direction is being asked to do it again.

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