Image by haaretz

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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