Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left here for Rome Monday to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry on a Palestinian statehood bid to the UN later this week.
The meeting, which is scheduled later in the day, is aimed at coordinating stances regarding the bid, which calls for an end to the Israeli occupation in the occupied territories in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip areas in two years’ time.
Ahead of his flight, Netanyahu said that Israel “will not receive dictations” about how to act regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Xinhua reported.
“In recent years we have rebuffed recurrent attempts to dictate conditions to us that would have harmed Israel’s security and that are incompatible with genuine peace,” Netanyahu said before boarding the plane, according to a statement from his office.
“This time as well we will not accept attempts to dictate to us unilateral moves on a limited timetable,” he said. “We will stand firm in the face of any diktat.”
Sunday, prior to a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that any unilateral attempt to make Israel withdraw to the pre-1967 lines was doomed to fail.
In addition to meeting with Kerry, the prime minister will also meet with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
As peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in April, the Palestinian Authority approached several international bodies in order to carry out unilateral moves that would end the occupation and enable the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Israel and the US usually coordinate stances on such topics, stressing the need for negotiations rather than unilateral moves. The US usually vetoes such proposals and resolutions.
However, it is not clear whether the US would, in fact, veto any possible resolution, amid an all-time low in US-Israeli ties.
Kerry is set to meet with Palestinian officials in London Tuesday.
The Palestinians seek to establish a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, which Israel took over following the 1967 Mideast War.
In recent weeks, Sweden and the British, Spanish and French parliaments recognised a Palestinian state.