Occupied Jerusalem: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish homeland is chief among essential components for a peace deal, days ahead of renewed negotiations between the two groups.
Netanyahu restated his conditions for a settlement ahead of Thursday's summit in Washington with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first direct negotiations since talks collapsed in December 2008.
Radio 2: Netanyahu lays out his cards ahead of direct Palestinian-Israeli talks. Malak Harb reports
Tune in to Radio 2
An agreement would have to be based "first of all on recognition of Israel as the national state of the Jewish people, an end to the conflict and an end to further demands on Israel," Netanyahu said.
The Palestinians, who broke off the talks nearly three years ago after Israel staged a bloody offensive into the Gaza Strip, object to endorsing Israel as essentially Jewish.
Troubling implication
Such a move would imply the Palestinians are dropping their claim that refugees who fled or were expelled when Israel was created in 1948, and their descendants, should be able to reclaim former homes now within Israel.
Netanyahu told reporters that he would also seek "real security arrangements on the ground" to prevent a recurrence in the West Bank of events that took place in the Gaza Strip after Israel pulled out in 2005 and in south Lebanon after the Israeli withdrawal in 2000.
Netanyahu will personally lead the talks and hopes to meet Abbas every two weeks, a senior Israeli official said on Friday.
Do you think the negotiations will lead to a solution? What do you think of Netanyahu's plans?
