(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Thursday, 29 November 2012),
at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, made the following
statement:
"Israel is prepared to live in peace with a Palestinian state, but for peace
to endure, Israel's security must be protected. The Palestinians must recognize
the Jewish state and they must be prepared to end the conflict with Israel once
and for all.
None of these vital interests, these vital interests of peace, none of them
appear in the resolution that will be put forward before the General Assembly
today and that is why Israel cannot accept it. The only way to achieve peace is
through agreements that are reached by the parties directly; through valid
negotiations between themselves, and not through UN resolutions that completely
ignore Israel’s vital security and national interests. And because this
resolution is so one-sided, it doesn’t advance peace, it pushes it
backwards.
As for the rights of the Jewish people in this land, I have a simple message
for those people gathered in the General Assembly today: No decision by the UN
can break the 4000-year-old bond between the people of Israel and the land of
Israel."