Palestine issue confronts Netanyahu
Los Angeles Times
JERUSALEM — Benjamin Netanyahu, taking office as Israeli prime minister amid heckling by leftist and Arab lawmakers, offered Tuesday to seek a “permanent arrangement” for limited Palestinian self-rule.
“We do not wish to rule another people,” the conservative leader declared in a speech to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Without endorsing the goal of sovereignty for the Palestinians, he said he favored an accord giving them “all the powers necessary to rule themselves, except those that would threaten Israel’s existence and security.”
His remarks reaffirmed a stance at odds with the Obama administration, which advocates continued negotiations to create an independent Palestinian state, and reflected Israel’s rightward shift in the Feb. 10 election. But his message was mostly conciliatory as he became prime minister for a second time.
Voicing support for a broader U.S. objective in the region, he said Israel “today more than ever strives to reach full peace with the entire Arab and Muslim world.”
He added: “That yearning is supported by a joint interest of Israel and the Arab states against the fanatical obstacle” of terrorism.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reacted with scorn. “This man doesn’t believe in peace, so how can we deal with him?” he said on Palestine Television.
Netanyahu spoke near the start of an often raucous session of the newly elected parliament. Six hours later, it ratified his appointments to a 38-member Cabinet, and they were sworn in along with him a few minutes before midnight.
His nationally televised address generated scant reaction in the chamber until he turned to domestic matters.
From then on, heckling interrupted him frequently, starting as he lamented the decline of Israel’s educational standards and called for reform.