RAMALLAH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday he will lay out his policies on the Middle East peace process next week, after coming under pressure from key ally Washington.
“Next week I will make a key diplomatic speech where I will present before the citizens of Israel our principles for reaching peace and security,” Netanyahu said at the weekly Cabinet meeting.
“Ahead of the address, I will be happy to hear the opinions of my coalition partners and of other figures in the Israeli public,” Netanyahu said.
US President Barack Obama has made repeated calls for Israel to halt West Bank settlement construction, and last week declared he would personally pursue a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a concept Netanyahu has so far refrained from publicly supporting.
A “No” to Obama’s call would apparently put the Jewish state at odds with the United States, while on the other hand, a “Yes” would threaten Netanyahu’s ruling coalition with his right-wing partners, which traditionally hold hard-line stances on the settlement issue.
Netanyahu’s comments were his first since US President Barack Obama’s speech to the Muslim world on Thursday, in which he reiterated Washington’s “unbreakable” bond with Israel, but vowed not to turn his back on Palestinian aspirations and repeated his call for a halt to Jewish settlements.
“I would like to make it clear — we would like to reach peace with the Palestinians and with the Arab states with the maximum understandings of the United States,” Netanyahu said. “My goal is to reach a stable peace that is based on a solid principle of security for Israel and its citizens.”
Over the past few months tensions between the US and Israel have risen to levels not seen in 20 years as Washington presses Netanyahu to back a Palestinian state and freeze all settlement activity on occupied land.
—With input from agencies
