JERUSALEM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday that a peace deal with the Palestinians could not be achieved unless the latter conceded to a long-term Israeli military presence in the West Bank.
"I sincerely hope that it's now better understood internationally, for there can be no peace without real security and there can be no real security without a long-term IDF presence [in the West Bank] to provide it," Netanyahu said in televised statements at the Saban Forum in New York on Sunday.
"Israel seeks peace. I seek peace. But for peace, we need a Palestinian partner willing to stand up to Palestinian extremists," he said.
"The [peace] talks ended because the Palestinians wanted them to end. The talks ended because President [Mahmoud] Abbas unfortunately chose a pact with Hamas over peace with Israel," Netanyahu added.
The Palestinian leadership, the PM added, "not only refuses to confront that extremism, [but] at times even fuels it. It engages in incitement day in and day out. Just look at their webpages."
"The collapse of the old order has made clear to pragmatic Arab governments that Israel is not their enemy. On the contrary, Israel and our moderate Arab neighbors have much to gain by cooperating. And this cooperation could, in turn, open the door to peace," Netanyahu added.
The Palestinian leadership insists on the Israeli army's complete withdrawal from Palestinian territories occupied in 1967.
Palestinian-Israeli peace talks ground to a halt in April after the self-proclaimed Jewish state failed to honor earlier promises to release a group of Palestinian prisoners.
www.aa.com.tr/en
