Natanyahu Says No to Armed State of Arabs

Netanyahu endorses demilitarised Palestinian state

By Ron Bousso  8 hours ago

RAMAT GAN, Israel (AFP)  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 
endorsed for the first time the creation of a Palestinian state, provided 
it was demilitarised, after weeks of pressure from Washington.

The White House called his speech "an important step forward."

But Netanyahu also said the Palestinians must recognise the Jewish 
character of Israel, a condition Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has 
long rejected.

He also ruled out a halt to all Jewish settlement activity as demanded by 
the United States.

"If the Palestinians recognise Israel as the state of the Jewish people, 
then we arrive at a solution based on a demilitarised Palestinian state 
alongside Israel," Netanyahu said.

"The Palestinian territory will be without arms, will not control 
airspace, will not be able to have arms enter, without the possibility of 
striking alliances with Iran or (the Lebanese Shiite militia) Hezbollah."

Netanyahu also ruled out a complete stop to settlement activity in the 
occupied West Bank -- which the Palestinians have said is a condition for 
relaunching talks -- and said Palestinian refugees would not be resettled 
inside Israel's borders.

The Palestinians recognised Israel as a state in 1993 as part of the Oslo 
accords but have refused to recognise it as "Jewish" because doing so 
would effectively mean giving up the right of return for Palestinian 
refugees, a key Palestinian demand since Israel was created in 1948.

The Palestinians quickly slammed Netanyahu's speech, which Abbas spokesman 
Nabil Abu Rudeina said "torpedoes all peace initiatives in the region."

"It hobbles all efforts to save the peace process, in a clear defiance of 
the US administration," he told AFP.

The Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip condemned it as 
reflecting a "racist, extremist" ideology that denied Palestinian rights.

The speech was billed as a response to Obama's address to the Muslim world 
10 days ago in which he reiterated Washington's "unbreakable" bond with 
Israel but also called the Palestinian situation "intolerable."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement Obama "welcomes the 
important step forward in Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech."

The US statement reiterated Obama's commitment to a two-state solution, 
with a Jewish state of Israel and an independent Palestine "in the 
historic homeland of both peoples."

Obama "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," it said.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner welcomed Netanyahu's endorsement 
of the prospect of a Palestinian state, saying "the speech represents a 
step forward from that point of view."

In recent weeks Washington had increased pressure on Israel's new 
government to endorse the idea of a Palestinian state and halt all 
settlement activity.

The Obama administration's position raised fears in Israel that its main 
ally may ease its support as it tries to improve relations with the Muslim 
world.

The US stance put Netanyahu in a difficult position, as his heavily 
right-wing 10-week-old government could collapse if he gives in to too 
many of Washington's demands.

"It was a brilliant speech but it had one miserable phrase that laid the 
cornerstone for the creation of a state of Palestine," Likud MP Danny 
Danon said following the premier's address.

"I will do everything in my power in parliament to prevent this from 
happening."

The main settlers' organisation in a statement condemned the speech.

"We deplore that the prime minister has agreed to the creation of a 
demilitarised Palestinian state after he has said for years that such a 
state, even demilitarised, would be a threat to Israel," the Yesha Council 
said.

But Daniel Ben Simon, an MP from the centre-left Labour party, part of 
Netanyahu's coalition, called it a "revolutionary speech" and said 
Israel's centrist parties should encourage the hawkish prime minister.

He added that such support could "lead to a miracle of a peace agreement 
with the Palestinians under a centre-right government, something at which 
left-wing governments never succeeded."

A Western diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said the speech "is 
certainly encouraging and gives us a lot of work with."

"I think everyone understands Israel's concerns and the demand for a 
demilitarised (Palestinian) state has always been part of the agenda."

Washington provides Israel with 2.4 billion dollars of annual military aid 
as well as diplomatic support, making the United States its most important 
ally.

Israel and the Palestinians relaunched their negotiations at a US 
conference in November 2007, but the talks made little progress and were 
suspended during Israel's blistering war on Gaza in December and January.

Netanyahu on Sunday also responded to the elections in Iran, saying the 
"biggest threat to Israel, the Middle East and the entire world is the 
crossing of a nuclear weapon with radical Islam."

Israel, the region's sole if undeclared nuclear power, has accused Iran of 
racing to develop atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear 
programme, allegations Tehran vehemently denies.

Copyright  2009 AFP.