PM Netanyahu
Photo: Dudu Azoulay
Netanyahu: Palestinians distort history
Refugees result of '48 attack on Israel, settlements not reason for conflict, Bibi says
Bibi goes on the attack: The Palestinians are spreading libelous propaganda against Israel and distort historical facts about the causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Thursday.
Netanyahu also dismissed claims that Israel's settlements in the West Bank are the root cause of the conflict.
The Palestinian refugee problem "is a result of what happened in 1948," the PM told Likud activists at the party's Tel Aviv headquarters. "Had they refrained from attacking us, these people would not have become refugees," he said.
Harsh Words
Associated Press
Ex-PM says Bibi should not risk ties with US, grant Obama extension of moratorium
"They are trying to say that our presence in Judea and Samaria is the reason for the conflict, which isn't true," he said. "They took the results of the 1967 conflict – that is, the construction in Judea and Samaria – and turned them into the reason for the conflict."
'No progress without written US pledge'
Addressing the current peace talks, Netanyahu said that he expects written US assurances for the benefit package to be received by Israel in exchange for a three-month extension of the settlement construction freeze.The PM made it clear that there will be no progress on in peace talks without such pledge.
"As long as there's nothing in a written document, we won't be able to advance," he said. "Reality is complex, and that raises the need for an explicit American pledge."
The meeting was attended by some 40 activists and was held at Netanyahu's initiative, as part of his promise to hold closed-door sessions with activists once every two weeks in order to share developments on the diplomatic and political front with them.
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