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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed on Saturday the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, saying that they are “an essential strategic interest for Israel.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s political-security cabinet convened on Saturday evening to hear updates on agreement reached to resume negotiation.

“I have in mind a number of objectives,” Netanyahu said, “preventing the creation of a bi-national state between the Jordan River and the sea, which will endanger the future of the Jewish State, and preventing the creation of another Iranian-backed terrorist state within Israel’s borders, which could no less endanger us.”

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Netanyahu thanked U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for his efforts in bringing about the resumption of negotiations, and expressed hope that the talks will be held in a serious and responsible manner. “I will insist on Israel’s security demands and on its essential interests,” he said.

Habayit Hayehudi leader and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement on Saturday that “insisting on our principles has paid off,” adding that the resumption of peace talks was achieved without preconditions. “[There is] no freeze, and of course no detached demand to conduct [negotiations] on the basis of the 1967 lines.”

For more go to Haaretz

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