Israel offers no breakthrough on policies after Clinton's visit

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Palestinians on Sunday to restart the peace negotiation, but offered no breakthrough on his policies over the peace process.

"The Palestinians should come to their senses and enter negotiations as soon as possible," Netanyahu was quoted by local news service Ynet as saying in the cabinet meeting.

The prime minister reiterated his allegation in his speech at Bar Ilan University in June, in which he said Israel would accept a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes Israel as a Jewish national state.

"I put forth a vision for peace at Bar Ilan that revolves around the principles that unify the vast majority of the country's citizens, a vision that you can run with to reach a real solution," Netanyahu said.

Without touching any breakthrough over his policy on the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the prime minister emphasized what his government has done to improve economy in the Palestinian side.

Netanyahu's remarks came a day after the visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her first official trip to Israel since the Netanyahu government took office in late March.

Netanyahu told his cabinet ministers that he had "a very good, long, and serious meeting" with Clinton, adding that the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell will stay in Israel for another day in a bid to push forward the peace process.

Clinton, urging Israel and the Palestinians to immediately revive stalled peace talks, said on Saturday night that a full Israeli settlement freeze was at no stage a precondition to the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

She also said at a joint news conference with Netanyahu that Israel is making "unprecedented" concessions on West Bank settlement construction.

The U.S. Obama administration had previously demanded Israel halt all settlement building before negotiations could resume.

The Central Committee of the Palestinian Fatah party issued a statement on Sunday to support Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' refusal to resume negotiations with Israel until Israel stops settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Abbas' rejection to resume peace talks with Israel has met the expectations of national and factional sectors that there should be a "clear basis for resuming the peace process," said the statement.

Source: Xinhua