Benjamin Netanyahu was referring to the Jordan River Valley, along the eastern border of the West Bank. Israel considers control of the border vital to block the flow of weapons from Jordan to the Palestinians.

Netanyahu told Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that keeping the Jordan Valley was an “essential condition to ensure security and ensure that a peace deal holds,” according to a meeting participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat rejected Netanyahu's comments. “He knows that this is a nonstarter for any peace agreement,” Erekat said. Palestinians claim all of the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan during the 1967 Mideast War, as part of their future state.

Talks broke down more than a year ago, just before Israel launched a bloody three-week war on Gaza.

Netanyahu's pronouncement came when the US is pushing hard to restart the talks. Vice President Joe Biden is due to arrive in the region next week, and US envoy George Mitchell has been shuttling between the sides in recent months to try to resume negotiations.

Israel also drew US criticism over a plan to build 900 new apartments in Pisgat Ze’ev, a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem. The plan was approved a year ago, but the recent decision to revise its scope — to trim it from 1,100 units to 900 according to the ministry — was perceived by Washington as an unhelpful act.

“We expressed our strong concerns that this kind of activity, particularly as we try to relaunch meaningful negotiations is counterproductive and undermines trust between the parties,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters on Monday.

Citing concern over Israel's international image, Netanyahu meanwhile persuaded Jerusalem's mayor on Tuesday to put on hold any demolition of Palestinian homes in a municipal tourism project. Palestinian officials said the project was another attempt by Israel to cement its claim to all of Jerusalem.

Mayor Nir Barkat wanted to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, reshaping parts of it into parkland and hotel and business areas to boost tourism in the city.

A statement issued by the prime minister's office said Netanyahu told Barkat he was concerned "parties interested in sowing discord" would present to the world a "distorted picture" of the "King's Garden" plan.

A city spokesman said Netanyahu had asked Barkat to give more time to "come to an understanding" with the Palestinian inhabitants.