Israeli Prime Minister, stated on Thursday that Israel is a “Jewish State”, and that the country will not bow to international pressures. His statements came in a speech to the Army’s General Command, while marking the Jewish Pesach Feast. Netanyahu claimed that international mediation in the efforts to resume peace talks will leave Israel “without security and without peace”.
“We will counter anybody who tries to practice pressure on us”, he said, “We will resist any attempt to dictate what we should do”.
The Israeli Prime Minister further stated that he received an invitation to deliver a speech at the U.S. Congress next month, and that, during his speech, he will also discuss the “Iranian file”.
“Over the last two years, we repeatedly confirmed our principles, we must maintain our security”, Netanyahu said, “Peace settlements must achieve peace, not peace on paper”.
He also reiterated his demands that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish State, before peace talks can focus on security arrangements that must ensure Israel’s security should a peace settlement collapse.
Netanyahu also said that Israel will be facing enormous challenges in the coming two years, especially in the fields of policy, security, economy and social affairs, adding that he will “remain steadfast despite international pressures”.
Referring to the recent Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said that his government “placed principles for its actions in responding to Palestinian shells”, and that “any action will have a more powerful reaction”.
As for the latest Israeli strike in Sudan, Netanyahu said “We do a lot, but not everything is exposed”, and added “what we do is not only a reaction, but an action to meant foil the attacks by enemies, the result of these actions was two years of unprecedented calm”, he concluded.
The attack in Sudan was carried out on Tuesday, April 5, when missiles were fired by an aircraft, believed to be Israeli, hit a vehicle in Bur Sudan, east of the country leading to several casualties.
The Sudanese government issued a statement accusing Israel of being responsible for the attack, and added that this attack was an attempt to portray the country as a “supporter of terrorism” and therefore, stop the United States’ intentions to remove Sudan from the list of countries that support terrorism.
In January this year, Washington promised the Sudanese government to remove the country for the list if it conducts a poll on the future of southern Sudan.
Responding to the strike, Sudan said that it will be filing complaints to the Security Council, the United nations, and the Human Rights Council.
Israel claims that the Hamas movement in Palestine uses Sudan as a base for smuggling weapons to its fighters in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas movement denied the Israeli claims.
