TEL AVIV, November 11. /TASS/. Israel's new Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has come out against recognizing Palestinian statehood. He argued that such an entity would soon become a "Hamas state." Saar was speaking at his first press conference since taking office.

"The creation of a Palestinian state today is the creation of a Hamas state. We saw that it took Hamas a year after we (Israel - TASS) withdrew [in 2005] from the Gaza Strip to put it (the Palestinian enclave - TASS) under its control. We don't want this to happen in the West Bank," Saar said.

Asked whether he supported the idea of Palestinian statehood, the Israeli foreign minister said: "No. I don't think this position is realistic, and we should be realistic," he added.

On November 8, the Israeli parliament approved Saar's appointment as foreign minister. His inauguration ceremony took place at the Israeli Foreign Ministry compound in Jerusalem on November 10.