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Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com/on-relevance-of-2-states-merkel-dovetails-with-netanyahu/
Merkel: Now's Not the Time for Major Progress on Palestinian State
(Times of Israel) Raphael Ahren - "Now is certainly not the time to make really comprehensive progress" toward the creation of a Palestinian state, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin Tuesday at a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "but you can achieve improvements in certain places." "The European Union, and Germany as a member state, is very concerned about seeing things realistically," Merkel said. "We know the threat of terrorism that Israel has to endure." Netanyahu rejected a French initiative for a regional conference to discuss the stalled peace process, arguing that bilateral negotiations to peace are the only path to Palestinian statehood. Netanyahu said he found the French proposal "bizarre." He added, "The State of Israel has to be treated fairly. We are not the root cause of the problems of the Middle East. We are an important part of the solution....Israel is Western civilization's iron wall in the heart of the Middle East."