19-04-2024 08:52 AM Jerusalem Timing

Netanyahu Rejects Withdrawal Talk ahead of Kerry Meet

Netanyahu Rejects Withdrawal Talk ahead of Kerry Meet

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected talk of Israel withdrawing from Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the West Bank within two years, on the eve of a meeting with the top US diplomat

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected talk of Israel withdrawing from Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the West Bank within two years, on the eve of a meeting with the top US diplomat.Kerry, Netanyahu
  
"We... stand against the possibility of a diplomatic assault, that is an attempt to compel us by means of UN decisions to withdraw to the 1967 lines within two years," said Netanyahu.
  
Netanyahu said such a withdrawal now would bring "Islamic extremists to the suburbs of Tel Aviv and to the heart of Jerusalem."
  
Speaking ahead of the weekly meeting of his cabinet, he said he would raise the issue in Rome with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday.
  
"I will tell them that Israel, to a large degree, stands as a solitary island against the waves of Islamic extremism that are washing over the entire Middle East," the Israeli premier said. "Until now we have successfully withstood and repelled these attacks."