There can be no two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians or swapping of land for peace if all Palestinians want is to eradicate the Jewish state, 2024 Republican presidential hopeful and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Newsmax on Monday.
DeSantis told "The Chris Salcedo Show" that previous administrations have pledged full support for Israel while working behind the scenes with the United Nations and European nations to pressure Israel into accepting a two-state solution for peace with Palestinians.
He said under a DeSantis presidency, "we will not pressure them to do a so-called two-state solution with Palestinian Arabs."
"There is no two-state solution," DeSantis said. "Those Palestinian Arabs in places like the Gaza Strip, they don't want their own state as much as they just want to eradicate the Jewish state. They don't want to recognize Israel's right to exist, so the whole notion that you could do a two-state solution, that you could somehow give away land and end up with a lasting peace is refuted by the fact that those Palestinian Arabs reject Israel's existence outright.
"They think it's their duty to drive the Jews into the sea. We've got to stop trying to delude ourselves into thinking there's going to be some type of two-state solution when you have that kind of thinking that pervades, not just groups like Hamas, but the broader Palestinian Arab society."
DeSantis said if a group like Hamas can invade and cause so much terror on Israel, a country with one of the world's most protected borders, it doesn't bode well for the U.S., which has had an open-border policy under the Biden administration.
"This is a huge, huge vulnerability," DeSantis said. "I think, for sure, we're going to eventually have a terrorist attack in this country that will trace back to somebody coming across the southern border. I don't think there's any way you can have that many number of people capitalizing on such a vulnerability and not see that, so this is an intentional policy of the Biden administration to weaken this country, to expose our citizens to potential threats and attacks.
"… It's a total disaster and something needs to be done about it. I've already said on day one, we're declaring it a national emergency. We're going to send the military to the border. We won't entertain any of these asylum claims at the border. They can remain in Mexico. People that come illegally are going to get sent back to their home country. Yes, we will build the border wall. But more importantly, we're going to use lethal force against the Mexican drug cartels because they're facilitating almost everything bad that is happening down there."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.