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Netanyahu stresses support for 2-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Xinhua, May 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he is still committed to the two-state solution as means to end the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"I want to reiterate my commitment to peace," Netanyahu told reporters before his meeting with the European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Jerusalem, who is on a two-day visit to the region.

"We want a peace that would end the conflict once and for all. My position has not changed. I don't support a one-state solution. I don't believe that's a solution at all. I support the vision of two states for two peoples," he said.

Netanyahu reiterated that the future Palestinian state must be demilitarized and recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

The Israeli government would take some initiatives in the upcoming months to ease restriction on the Palestinian population who lives in territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast War, he added.

Mogherini praised Netanyahu's declared "commitment to peace and security" and promised that the EU is willing to assist in renewing the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

"The European Union is interested in peace and security for Israel and the region because it is also our European peace and security, so we have a common interest there to see if we have a space for relaunching the vision you just mentioned of two states for two peoples being able to live in full respect on one side of the other," she said.

Mogherini, who met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah earlier Wednesday, will meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin Thursday.

Netanyahu has recently come under international criticism for backtracking from his previous declaration of support for the two-state solution. Days before the March 17 elections, he said in an interview that he would not permit the creation of a Palestinian state under his watch.

Observers believe Netanyahu's latest statements were aiming to reassure the international community after establishing a right-wing government a week ago, which includes the far-right Jewish Home party backed by Jewish settlers.

Netanyahu and his Likud party did not specify in their agreements with the coalition partners any aspects of reviving the peace talks and establishing a Palestinian state.

On Monday, Israeli media reported Netanyahu appointed Interior Minister Silvan Shalom, a veteran Likud member, as the person in charge of the peace talks with the Palestinians. Shalom has been known for his support of settlement construction and objection to a Palestinian state

The last round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians was mediated by the United States and took place between July 2013 and April 2014. Endit