<<Print>>

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected comments from US President Obama that a future Palestinian state must be based on the 1967 borders. In a major speech to the state department, Mr Obama said "mutually agreed swaps" would help create "a viable Palestine, and a secure Israel". But Mr Netanyahu said those borders, which existed before the 1967 Middle East war, were "indefensible". Mr Netanyahu is preparing to meet Mr Obama for talks at the White House. An estimated 300,000 Israelis live in settlements built in the West Bank, which lies outside those borders. The settlements are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. Seeking solutions In Thursday's speech on the future of US policy in the Middle East, Mr Obama said the basis of the peace negotiations was to create "a viable Palestine, and a secure Israel". "The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine," he said. "The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognised borders are established for both states."