Post date: Sep 23, 2011 7:31:4 PM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a United Nations General Assembly audience that peace between his nation and the Palestinian Authority could only come about through direct negotiations and only after the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
UNITED NATIONS (SEPTEMBER 23, 2011) UNTV - AIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday (September 23) that he was reaching out to the Palestinian people but cautioned that peace could not be won with a U.N. resolution.
Netanyahu addressed the 193-nation assembly shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted an application for full U.N. membership to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon despite Israeli and U.S. objections.
"The truth is that Israel wants peace, the truth is that I want peace," he said, adding that "we cannot achieve peace through U.N. resolutions but only through direct negotiations between the parties," said Netanyahu.
"Israel wants peace with a Palestinian state, but the Palestinians want a state without peace. And the truth is you shouldn't let that happen," he said.
Netanyahu also said the issue of settlements is not the main roadblock to peace.
"The core of the conflict is not the settlements. The settlements are the result of the conflict. It's an issue that has to be addressed and resolved in the course of negotiations. But the core of the conflict has always been, and unfortunately remains, the refusal of the Palestinians to recognize a Jewish state in any border," said Netanyahu.
It was also time for the Palestinians to acknowledge that "Israel is the Jewish state," he told the assembly.
He also made an appeal to Abbas for direct peace talks with the Palestinians to begin without delay in New York.
"Let's meet here today in the United Nations," Netanyahu said.
Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed a year ago. The Palestinians pulled out after Israel refused to extend a moratorium on new Jewish settlements in the West Bank.