Fayyad Optimistic; Netanyahu: Palestinans Must Recognize Israel as Jewish State

Fayyad Optimistic; Netanyahu: Palestinans Must Recognize Israel as Jewish State
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24/10/2009 Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said, in an interview published Saturday, that his government was determined to complete building a structure of a future Palestinian state by 2011.

"We've committed ourselves to a path of completing the task of institution building," he told The Washington Post.

He said the institution building meant "the capacity to govern ourselves effectively in all spheres of government within two years."

Asked if Palestinians should declare an independent state in 2011, Fayyad said: "I said this will be the program of the Palestinian government -- it will commit itself to deliver the state in terms of capacity within two years."

In another interview with the Post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Palestinians needed to recognize Israel as a Jewish state in order to resolve their conflict. "Israel is not a bi-national state," he explained. "It's the homeland of any Jew. And there is a very broad consensus in Israel that the Palestinian refugee problem should be resolved outside Israel's borders."

Netanyahu said Palestinians will have to make a final peace deal with "the Jewish state of Israel."

"Jews come here and Palestinians will go there. So choose.

That's the basis of a solution," the Zionist prime minister said.