Netanyahu rules out return to 1967 borders

AL Jazeera Americas

Israeli prime minister says Israel will not return to "indefensible" 1967 borders for achieving peace with Palestinians. Last Modified: 24 May 2011 03:01

Binyamin Netanyahu told AIPAC that peace with the Palestinians must leave Israel with security [Reuters] Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has ruled out accepting a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the 1967 borders. Addressing a conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committtee (AIPAC) in Washington on Tuesday, Netanyahu said Israel cannot return to the "indefensible" 1967 borders - something that the US president Barack Obama had suggested a few days earlier. He said "this conflict has raged for nearly a century because the Palestinians refuse to end it. They refuse to accept the Jewish state. This is what this conflict has always been about." "Peace with Palestinians must leave Israel with security, therefore Israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 lines," he said. In an address disrupted several times by protesters, the Israeli prime minister condemned the Palestinian group Hamas. "Imagine keeping a young soldier locked in a dark dungeon for five years without a single visit of the Red Cross," Netanyahu said referring to Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas. "I think the entire civilised community should join Israel, America and all of us in a simple demand: release Gilad Shalit," he said, describing the soldier's capture as an "outrageous crime".

Source: Al Jazeera

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