MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough is criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump for their reported plan to relocate besieged Palestinians and the support they claim other countries in the region are showing for the idea.
Netanyahu, who has been accused of war crimes for the military campaign in Gaza following Hamas’ 2023 terrorist attacks, dined at the White House where a reporter asked Trump about the “Palestinian relocation plan.”
Trump, who had proposed the idea earlier in the year, deferred the question to Netanyahu.
Netanyahu defended the plan, stating, “I think President Trump had a brilliant vision. It’s called free choice. If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave. It shouldn’t be a prison. It should be an open place and give people a free choice.”
Scarborough criticized the idea of other countries taking in displaced Palestinians as a “preposterous statement” on “Morning Joe,” joined by Richard Haass, former advisor to Colin Powell.
Haass noted the hope of right-wing Israelis to settle or annex Palestinian land, calling the idea of finding homes for Palestinians outside of their areas “fanciful.”
The Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war exceeded 55,000 in June, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Netanyahu has maintained that the military campaign in Gaza is for retrieving hostages from Hamas. Trump previously suggested the U.S. should “take over” Gaza, sparking backlash.
Haass emphasized the necessity of a two-state solution for peace in the Middle East, dismissing the relocation plan as not a serious proposition.
Scarborough agreed, stating, “You can’t talk about peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution. Those who claim otherwise are burying their heads in the sand.”
