Israel, Palestine agree to direct talks

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said reaching agreement with Palestinians will be "difficult but possible", in his first comments about planned direct talks between the two sides, BBC reports.

But Mr Netanyahu insisted that the negotiations could only be successful if Israel's interests were protected. He said Palestinians must accept Israel as the state of the Jewish people and its security must be guaranteed.

The direct talks, the first in 20 months, are to begin in September.

"Achieving a peace agreement between us and the Palestinian Authority is difficult, but possible," Mr Netanyahu told an Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday. "We are talking about a peace agreement between Israel and a demilitarized Palestinian state, and this state, if it is established at the end of the process... is meant to end the conflict and not to be a foundation for its continuation by other means."

"I know there is a lot of doubt after the 17 years which have passed since the start of the Oslo (peace) process," Mr Netanyahu added. "It's understandable why such skepticism exists."

Both Mr Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have been invited to Washington for the US-sponsored talks.

They have agreed to place a one-year time limit on the direct negotiations.