PM: Without recognition, there will be no peace deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas on Monday for his refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Netanyahu's statements came after Abbas told The New York Times that Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state was "out of the question."

At a Likud-Beytenu faction meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said. "[Abbas] knows that there will not be an agreement without recognition of the nation state of the Jewish people."

Netanyahu said it would be "absurd" to expect Israel to recognize a nation state for the Palestinian people without reciprocal recognition of Israel as the nation state for the Jewish people.

"Let's see if the same international actors who until now have put pressure on Israel will make clear to the Palestinian Authority what exactly will be the consequences for the Palestinians if there is no agreement," Netanyahu said. "Because, unless the Palestinians understand that they will pay a price if the talks fail, they will prefer to not continue the talks."

"No pressure will cause me to abandon the vital interests of the State of Israel, first and foremost the security of the citizens of Israel," Netanyahu said.

In a New York Times interview published on Sunday, Abbas presented his positions on security issues, saying that Israeli troops could remain in the territory of a Palestinian state for five years after the signing of a peace agreement. Abbas also said that an American-led NATO force could patrol a future Palestinian state indefinitely.

Abbas said the NATO force could stay "for a long time, and wherever they want, not only on the eastern borders, but also on the western borders, everywhere. The third party can stay. They can stay to reassure the Israelis, and to protect us."

"We will be demilitarized," Abbas said. "Do you think we have any illusion that we can have any security if the Israelis do not feel they have security-"

Abbas said the Palestinian state would not have its own army, but only a police force, meaning that the NATO force would be responsible for preventing weapons smuggling and terrorism.

Abbas also suggested that Israeli settlements could be phased out over the course of a timetable similar to his five-year proposal for the Israeli military withdrawal.

The current negotiations began on July 29, 2013, and were to take up to nine months, until April 29 this year. Abbas displayed some flexibility over this deadline.

"It's not a sacred date," Abbas said. "Suppose by the end of nine months we got something promising. Shall I stop? I will not stop. If, after nine months, we didn't get anything, if there is nothing on the horizon, we will stop."

Even if the negotiations fail, Abbas ruled out a return to violence "in my life, and if I have any more life in the future."

"I will never return to the armed struggle," Abbas said.

Abbas stuck to his intransigence on the issue of recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, saying it was "out of the question." Abbas mentioned that Jordan and Egypt were not asked to do so when they signed peace agreements with Israel.

Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett (Habayit Hayehudi) responded on Monday to the Abbas interview, saying, "International forces are the last thing that will let us sleep peacefully."

"From Israeli history, we learn a very simple rule regarding international forces," Bennett said at a Habayit Hayehudi faction meeting. "When everything is calm, they are there. But as soon as you need them, they run away. This is what happened before the Six-Day War [in 1967] and also what happened over the years in Lebanon. I prefer to remain old-school -- only the Israel Defense Forces will protect our children."

In Washington on Monday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki declined to predict when Kerry would present the framework peace proposal he has been formulating.

"I'm not going to make a prediction of the timing," Psaki said. "Obviously, this is something we're working hard on, but again, I don't think we expect this to be soon.

"The nine-month timeframe remains. Nothing has changed about that. The next step is a framework, but we haven't changed anything about our timeline. ... We have a bit of time between now and the end of April."

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