Perilous Times
Netanyahu 'will not bow to territorial concessions' during peace talks
Benjamin Netanyahu has reassured his right-wing Likud bloc in Israel’s
ruling coalition he will not bow to territorial concessions in direct
peace talks with the Palestinians due to take place in Washington.
Published: 12:26AM BST 31 Aug 2010
Netanyahu 'will not bow to territorial concessions' during peace talks
“You don’t need to worry. Nobody needs to teach me what it is to love
Eretz Israel,” he told Likud members, using a biblical term for the
Land of Israel.
Eretz Israel stretches from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River,
including the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Israeli government has ordered a 10-month partial moratorium on
Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank that expires on
September 26, with most Likud members opposed to an extension.
“I’m aware of the difficulties but I believe a peace accord can be
obtained,” said Netanyahu on the eve of his departure for Washington
where direct Israeli-Palestinian talks are to resume Thursday after a
20-month break.
“The government of Israel wants to progress on the path to peace ... We
want a real peace, for generations to come, and only the Likud
government can bring about this peace,” said the premier who heads a
centre-right coalition.
On Sunday, he said in the run-up to the US-brokered talks that
Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish homeland is chief among
essential components for a peace deal.
An agreement would have to be based “first of all on recognition of
Israel as the national state of the Jewish people, an end to the
conflict and an end to further demands on Israel,” Netanyahu said.