SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he wants to resume peace talks with the Palestinians within weeks but avoided any mention of a two-state solution to the conflict.
The hawkish premier failed to publicly endorse the creation of a Palestinian state during talks with President Hosni Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on his first trip abroad since taking office in March.
“We would like to resume as soon as possible the peace talks between us and the Palestinians, and I hope they will be renewed in the coming weeks, he said at a joint news conference with the Egyptian leader.
“We would like to extend peace first of all with our Palestinian neighbors, he said.
“We would like Israel and the Palestinians to live with prospects of peace, security and prosperity. The three things go together and not one at the expense of the other.
Mubarak, whose country is Israel’s main Arab ally but is at odds with the Jewish state over the Middle East peace process, called on Netanyahu to accept a two-state solution.
The prime minister stressed his government’s commitment for peace . and for my part I stressed Egypt s aspiration for positive positions which reflect his commitment for peace . through a two-state solution, Mubarak said.
The veteran Egyptian leader urged Netanyahu to take a bold approach in achieving peace.
Peace is created by the strong and is achieved by those who have the courage to make difficult decisions and those who are able to commit to implementing them, Mubarak said, describing the talks as honest and constructive.
US President Barack Obama has vowed to pursue Middle East peacemaking while pushing for a two-state solution, and has invited Netanyahu, Mubarak and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to Washington for talks in the coming weeks.
Netanyahu is due to meet Obama on May 18 and to finally unveil his policy on the Middle East peace process.
The creation of a Palestinian state is a bedrock principle of international peace efforts to which Israel committed itself under the 2003 roadmap plan.
But Netanyahu, who also served as prime minister from 1996-1999, has said the Palestinian economy must improve before substantive talks on other issues.
The hawkish premier also sought Egypt s support against Iran s nuclear drive, which Israel and its main ally the United States say is a cover for efforts to build atomic weapons – charges denied by Tehran.
Since Israel and Egypt both seek a future of hope and peace, we must tighten the cooperation between us in the face of elements that are threatening the stability in the Middle East, he said.
It is a struggle between moderates and extremists, Netanyahu said.
Israeli-Egypt ties have been strained by Netanyahu s choice of foreign minister, the ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman who last year said Mubarak could go to hell if he continued to refuse to visit the Jewish state.
The foreign minister has sparked international concern by saying the new cabinet was not bound by the US-backed decision of Israel s previous government in November 2007 to relaunch negotiations with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu was accompanied by Trade and Industry Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, who in 2007 was forced to cancel a visit to Egypt because of his alleged involvement in the massacre of Egyptian PoWs in 1967.
Ben-Eliezer was the commander of Israeli s Shaked unit, which was accused by a documentary maker of executing 250 PoWs during the Six Day War, when Israel captured the Sinai peninsula from Egypt.
