BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to direct and immediate peace talks with the Palestinians during a press conference yesterday in Poland’s capital Warsaw.

Netanyahu, who is leading a two-day ministerial delegation to Poland, spoke alongside his counterpart, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Referring to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s concerted efforts to kick-start peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Netanyahu said “I want peace. To achieve peace, we must negotiate peace. We want to see this American effort succeed.”

Outlining his desire to reach a settlement, Netanyahu explained “My goal is to see a historic compromise that ends the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians once and for all.” In order to make this a reality Netanyahu said, “This will entail a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state, with ironclad security arrangements for Israel – recognition, security, demilitarization.”

The Israeli premier repeated his desire to sit down with the Palestinian Authority leadership without the demand for pre-conditions, saying “I think it is time to stop squabbling over pre-conditions. I think it’s time to stop negotiating about the negotiations. I think we have to start peace talks immediately.”

According to the Jerusalem Post, John Kerry spoke yesterday with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, assuring Abbas that he is still pushing for a resumption of talks. However, Abbas reiterated his demand that before this could take place, Israel must freeze settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. He also asked that all Palestinian prisoners are freed from Israeli detention.

For his part, Polish Prime Minister Tusk also threw his weight behind efforts to re-start talks, commenting “During the meeting today we strongly supported Israel’s and other countries’ work to solve the conflict with the Palestinians.”