Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that Israel will not withdraw to the borders that existed prior to the 1967 Israeli-Arab war. In interviews with the Israeli press ahead of the Jewish New Year, excerpts of which were published Wednesday, Netanyahu said that in practice historic Palestine was already divided, but the question was how it should be partitioned as part of a final peace deal.
"There were those who prophesied about the 1967 borders, which are indefensible - something which I do not accept," he told the Hadashot Hayom daily.
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan, Gaza from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria in the summer of 1967 in what is known to Israelis as the Six-Day War.
Previous governments have rejected a full withdrawal to the borders of before the war, arguing they made Israel dangerously vulnerable.
Netanyahu, of the hardline but mainstream Likud party, also reiterated Israel had no desire to continue to rule over the Palestinians. "It is clear that as part of a final peace settlement they need to govern themselves, but without powers that could threaten us."
The Israeli premier also called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to be "brave," show leadership and "explain to his people that if an agreement is signed, the conflict is over. There will be no further claims. That's it."
Israel could not accept a Palestinian state if "from there, they (the Palestinians) continue to make claims," he told the Ma'ariv daily.
