Direct talks are the only way to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday night, and called on the international community to support such negotiations, dpa reported.
His remarks came in response to statements earlier in the day by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said Palestinians could appeal to the United Nations and the United States to recognize a Palestinian state on the borders that existed before the 1967 war, if Israeli-Palestinian peace talks did not resume.
"As long as the Palestinians think that they have an option to go unilaterally to the UN Security Council they will avoid making serious progress in the direct talks," Netanyahu said when meeting US Senator Joe Lieberman.
"Therefore, the international community needs to make it clear to the Palestinians that direct negotiations are the only track for achieving a genuine and stable peace," the premier added.
"We want to advance, in direct and serious negotiations, toward a framework agreement with the Palestinians, and at the same time promote a broader regional peace agreement with other countries in the Arab world. In order to do so, the current obstacle that the Palestinians have set must be overcome," he said.
Direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resumed at the beginning of September, but quickly fell into limbo when Israel did not renew a 10-month limited construction freeze at its West Bank settlements.
Abbas has said the talks will not resume unless and until Israel resumes the freeze, something Netanyahu has so far refrained from doing.