Speaking during a key policy address at the Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv, Netanyahu placed several conditions that needed to be met before his government would consider the possibility of a ‘two-state’ solution.
“In my vision of peace, two people live in good neighbourly relations, each with their own flag…neither threaten the other’s security,” Netanyahu said during his speech.
“If we receive this guarantee regarding the demilitarization and Israel ’s security needs, and if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of Jewish people, then we will be ready in a future peace agreement to reach a solution where a demilitarized Palestinian state exists alongside the Jewish state.”
Netanyahu also addressed the Palestinian refugees’ demand for the right to return to their homes in what is now Israel .
“There must be a clear understanding that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside of Israel ’s borders. For it is clear that any demand for resettling Palestinian refugees within Israel undermines Israel’s continued existence as a state of the Jewish people,” he said.
Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of Palestinian National Initiative and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, flatly rejected Netanyahu’s insistence of Palestine ’s recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
“It’s not a state of Jewish people alone. It’s a state of Palestinians who live there as well, it should be a state of all its people, that’s what civilized people think and that’s what democracy is all about.”
“If we call Israel a Jewish state and Spain as a Catholic state and some other country as a Muslim state, then where do we move? The truth here is that 20 percent of the population of Israel today is Palestinians, who originally lived there, before the creation of the state of Israel when this whole land was called Palestine . To say this is a Jewish state means nothing besides consolidating racism and apartheid.”
Barghouthi went on to compare Netanyahu’s idea of an independent Palestinian state to the ghettos of Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa .
“He did not speak about a state; he spoke about a ghetto, a Bantustan , where people had self-governing authority. Even in one Bantustan under the apartheid system they had a king but that meant nothing. Today, what Mr. Netanyahu is presenting is nothing more than the model of Ghetto and Bantustan . But now he wants to call it a state.”
“But tell me what is the value of a state that has no sovereignty; that remains under the control of the Israeli side? I do not see anything new in this approach; on the contrary, I see something more malignant in his approach.”
Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Palestinian President Abbas, said “Netanyahu’s remarks have sabotaged all initiatives, paralyzed all efforts being made and challenges the Palestinian, Arab, and American positions.”
U.S. President Barak Obama, has welcomed Netanyahu’s speech as an “important step forward.”
His spokesman Robert Gibbs said “the President is committed to two states, a Jewish state of Israel and an independent Palestine , in the historical homeland of both peoples.”
“He believes this solution can and must ensure both Israel ’s security and the fulfillment of the Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for a viable state, and he welcomes Prime Minister Netanyahu’s endorsement of that goal.”
But Netanyahu made a point in his speech to insist that he would continue to allow ‘natural growth’ in settlements built on Palestinian land.
“We will continue to allow mothers and fathers to raise their children” he said.
His comments come despite previous agreements, international law, and the Obama administration’s insistence that settlement construction must stop.
Abbas stressed that he will not resume negotiations with Israel until all construction in the illegal settlements in the West Bank has stopped.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat called on Obama to enforce previous agreements made by Israel that include freezing settlement construction.
“The peace process has been moving at the speed of a tortoise. Tonight, Netanyahu has flipped it over on its back.”
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