Israel prepared to make 'painful compromises' for peace with Palestinians: Netanyahu
Jerusalem, May 25 ANI: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is prepared to make "painful compromises" to achieve peace with the Palestinians. Addressing a joint session of both houses of the United States Congress, Netanyahu however, refused to return to the ceasefire lines that existed before the Six-Day War in 1967, The Telegraph reports. Referring to the occupied West Bank, he said for the first time that he recognised "in a genuine peace, we will be required to give up parts of the ancestral Jewish homeland". "I am willing to make painful compromises to achieve this historical peace. As the leader of Israel, it is my responsibility," Netanyahu, said, adding "the status of the settlements will be decided only in negotiations", and that Israelis had "to be honest" about the nature of any final settlement. Although Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state, Netanyahu insisted that Jerusalem should remain the united capital of Israel. "Any peace deal must take into account the dramatic demographic changes that have occurred since 1967. The vast majority of the 650,000 Israelis who live beyond the 1967 lines reside in neighbourhoods and suburbs of Jerusalem and greater Tel Aviv," he added. Palestine Authority, however, slammed Netanyahu for refusing to withdraw to borders set before the 1967 Israeli-Arab war as the basis for negotiations. Nabil Shaath, one of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's aides said that the speech amounted to a "declaration of war" and was unacceptable, while another official said there was "nothing new" in the speech, and that it was simply a means of "adding obstacles" on the road to peace. A Hamas official said he was imposing "impossible conditions". ANI
Posted by aniin on Thursday May 26  reply


Comments

 <<  <  1  >  >>