Tel Aviv, September 11: Israel is willing to compromises for peace, but will not let itself be taken advantage of, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday night.
“We have proven that we are ready to make compromises for peace, but we won’t lead ourselves astray, we not willing to be suckers,” the premier told a meeting of his right-wing Likud party.
Netanyahu’s remarks came amid reports that Israel is set to announce a freeze on construction in West Bank settlements, as the US and the Palestinians have demanded.
The freeze is opposed by settlers, but Netanyahu told them in his remarks that Israel would allow them to lead “normal lives” while at the same time advancing the peace process.
But he warned that Jerusalem would remain Israel’s “undivided” capital” and said that since taking office in March, he was been working on getting international recognition for Israel as the Jewish homeland, and for any peace agreement to include arrangements that would safeguard Israel’s security.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, to be the capital of their future state. They have also rejected Netanyahu’s demand to recognise Israel as the Jewish homeland.