BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasised the importance of Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state in a lengthy address to the Begin-Sadat Center at Bar Ilan University yesterday evening.

At the same university where he publicly announced his support for the two-state solution four years ago, Netanyahu said that “the root of the conflict is the Jewish state.” He explained that “the most important key to solving the conflict” is “ending the [Palestinian] refusal to recognize the right of the Jews to a homeland of their own in the land of their fathers.”

Reviewing the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Netanyahu said that Arab violence against Jews as far back as 1921 is proof that West Bank settlements which date to 1967 are not the basis of the conflict. Netanyahu concluded, “For the process we’re in to have a real chance of success,” the Palestinian leadership must “recognize the Jewish state, which is Israel.”

Several rounds of talks between Israeli and PA delegations have taken place over the past few weeks, but few details have been released regarding the negotiations. In an interview on Israeli Channel Ten over the weekend, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads Israel’s delegation in the current talks said that although a nine-month timeframe has been allocated, “Within a short amount of time we’ll be able to know whether we’re advancing down an appropriate path.” Should this be the case “after eight months, we won’t drop the guillotine only so as to meet the timetable.”

Netanyahu also addressed the Iranian nuclear threat last night, reiterating that, “The international community’s position needs to be that we are ready to come to a diplomatic solution, but only one that gets rid of Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons.”