Israelis and Palestinians lock horns over "Jewish State"

Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians remained stalled on Monday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a new freeze of West Bank settlements in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish homeland. Palestinians immediately rejected the offer.

Reuters

"If the Palestinian leadership will unequivocally say to its people that it recognises Israel as the national state of the Jewish people, I will be ready to convene my cabinet and ask for another moratorium on building," Netanyahu said.

A renewal of the settlement freeze, which expired two weeks ago, is seen as key to salvaging direct peace talks.

Palestinian authorities immediately rejected Netanyahu's offer.

"This order has nothing to do with the peace process or with the obligations that Israel has not implemented," said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat.

Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians begn on 2 September, but reached an impasse two weeks ago after the expiry of a partial 10-month moratorium on Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

Despite diplomatic pressure to reimpose the freeze, Netanyahu has refused to do so, instead urging the Palestinians not to abandon the talks.

Recognition of Israel as a Jewish state has never been a core issue for resolving the conflict, but it has become a key demand for peace deals since Netanyahu came to power in 2009.

"I'm not setting this as a condition for talks," Netanyahu said on Monday.

"But there is no doubt that such a step on the part of the Palestinian Authority would represent a confidence-building measure which would open a new horizon of hope and also trust."

The Palestinians formally recognised Israel as a state on the eve of the 1993 Oslo Accords.

However, they have rejected the demand to recognise its Jewish character, since that would amount to an effective renunciation of their right of return for refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.