 CHANGING TIDES IN DAVOSIsraeli President Isaac Herzog: Oct. 7 a ‘wake-up call’ for limits of two-state solution FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images Herzog: ‘I want to hear my neighbors say how much they object, regret, condemn and do not accept in any way the terrible tragedy of the terror attack of Oct. 7’ By Gabby Deutch Israeli President Isaac Herzog, long a supporter of a two-state solution, described the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks as a “wake-up call” for his outlook on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, telling attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday that his view of peace in the Middle East had shifted. He described a bleaker view than he has previously espoused about Israel’s Palestinian neighbors, shaped irrevocably by the trauma of the terror attacks that killed more than 1,200 people. While he acknowledged “there must be a political move forward on the Palestinian front,” he did not commit to a Palestinian state as the end point of that process. “The idea of the two-state solution is something which, on record, I supported in the past, many times,” Herzog said in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. “But I would say that I had a wake-up call following Oct. 7, in the sense that I want to hear my neighbors say how much they object, regret, condemn and do not accept in any way the terrible tragedy of the terror attack of Oct. 7 and the fact that terror cannot be the tool to get there.” Herzog’s comments came after a more hopeful statement about Israel working toward achieving normalization with Saudi Arabia, prompted by a question by Zakaria about what steps Israel is willing to make vis-a-vis the Palestinians as Israel seeks to cement its ties with Riyadh. “It is something that after the enormous pain, really pain and enormous tragedies, we should strive for,” Herzog said of normalization. As Zakaria pressed Herzog for details about what it would take to get there — Saudi leaders have continuously said Israel must make progress in addressing the Palestinian issue before normalization can proceed — Herzog left the details fuzzy. You May Have MissedVERDICT FOR VERITASHarvard agrees to implement IHRA definition of antisemitism as part of settlementThe Ivy League school’s adoption of IHRA may prompt other schools to follow suit. STEPPING DOWNIDF chief of staff resigns over Oct. 7 failures amid political pressure Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi will depart his role on March 6. Read more...     |
1.21.2025
Israeli President Isaac Herzog: Oct. 7 a ‘wake-up call’ for limits of two-state solution
