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Netanyahu: Direct Talks Are Only Path to True Mideast Peace
(Ha'aretz) Barak Ravid and Natasha Mozgovaya - Direct peace talks are the only path to achieve genuine Middle East peace, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Thursday, hours after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinians were considering a unilateral declaration of statehood. Netanyahu said Israel expected the "Palestinians to live up to their obligations by holding serious direct negotiations, without malice and without preconditions." "Any attempt to bypass direct talks by appealing to international bodies will do nothing to advance the true peace process." The two peoples could achieve "a secure and stable peace solely through direct negotiations, a path I hope we shall return to in full force soon." UN diplomats, responding to Abbas' threat of a unilateral declaration, said earlier this week that such a move would represent a severe strategic error on Abbas' side, calling Palestinian hopes of a possible U.S. abandonment of its traditional support of Israel in the UN Security Council a "wild dream." "U.S. support of Israel is part of its DNA," a senior diplomat said.