Jewish state central to conflict: Netanyahu

But he was tight-lipped about the details of his proposal for breaking the deadlock in talks,accusing the Palestinians of using the settlements to notch up political capital at Israel’s expense and to avoid engaging innegotiations.

For Israel’s burly leader,negotiating a peace settlement comes down to two key issues on which he said he will not budge — recognition of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people,and Israel’s security alongside a future Palestinian state.

“The core of the conflict has always been the persistent refusal of the Palestinian leadership to recognise the Jewish state in any borders,” he said.

“That is why this conflict raged for nearly 50 years before 1967,before there was a single settlement in the West Bank,” he said.

He questioned whether the Palestinians were serious about a two-state solution if they could not recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

“Why don’t the Palestinians do something so simple as recognising the Jewish state? After all,we are prepared to recognise a Palestinian state. Why can’t they reciprocate if they really want peace?” he asked.

“This explains the root cause of why you don’t have peace.”

Netanyahu said he would also insist that Israel maintain a military presence along the West Bank’s border with Jordan under any peace deal,a term rejected by the Palestinians.

“We need a long-term Israeli presence along the Jordan border. We need a physical barrier to prevent penetration by Iran and its operatives,” he said,warning that an international force would not likely remain there for long.

“When we pulled out of Gaza,we left a European force along the border with Egypt,who left shortly after Hamas took over,” allowing Iran to penetrate easily through the southern border and fill the coastal enclave with weapons,he said.

Details of Netanyahu’s peace plan remain elusive,with commentators and political officials suggesting it has yet to be firmed up,but few expect it will include any mention of a new freeze on settlement construction — a key demand of thePalestinians for returning to the negotiating table.