Netanyahu: Palestinians must recognise Israel

The Palestinians must "recognise Israel as the state of the Jewish people" in order to achieve real peace, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. "The Palestinians must abandon their refusal to recognise the right of the Jewish people to their national state," he said in a speech at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv. Such recognition was "a condition for reaching an agreement at the end of negotiations, but not for launching them", he said. Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the United States after nearly three years of impasse. Source: AFP