Netanyahu Says He Won’t Back Down After Meeting Obama Envoy

[Purveyor]

By Jonathan Ferziger

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Barack Obama’s new Middle East envoy and told lawmakers afterward he won’t back down from positions that divide Israel and the Palestinians.

David Hale, who replaced George Mitchell last month as Obama’s point man for Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, met Netanyahu in Jerusalem today with White House adviser Dennis Ross, said Kurt Hoyer, the U.S. Embassy spokesman in Tel Aviv.

“The whole region is burning,” Netanyahu said later in a speech to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. “We have to unite around common values shared by an overwhelming majority of the nation.”

Among the six principles Netanyahu said would govern any future talks are that Palestinians must recognize Israel as a “Jewish state,” Palestinian refugees cannot return to Israel, Jerusalem will remain Israel’s “undivided” capital and any future Palestinian state must be demilitarized, allowing an Israeli military presence along the Jordanian border.

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[Eagle Mall]

1. Netanyahu has no choice. Obama will be reelected. Will Bibi be?