Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview published on Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth Friday that Israel's request for a Palestinian recognition of a Jewish state is unacceptable.

"Don't you have Arab citizens in Israel? You want to turn Israel into a Jewish state only? That's very bad. I'm telling you, it's a serious mistake which will harm you," Mubarak warned the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu, in his foreign policy speech on June 14, set the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state as one of the conditions for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"A Jewish state will become the target of all terrorists. An open state, on the other hand, is a different matter. Look at us in Egypt: We have Muslims, Christians, Copts and Jews," the Egyptian president said.

Meanwhile, Mubarak, whose country is mediating a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas, said that he believes the two sides would reach an agreement on the release of the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit soon, and that Shalit's present condition is good.

Source: Xinhua