Netanyahu: Palestinians distort history

YNet News (Link) - Attila Somfalvi (November 26, 2010)

The Palestinians are spreading libelous propaganda against Israel and distort historical facts about the causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Thursday.

The Palestinian refugee problem �is a result of what happened in 1948,� the PM told Likud activists at the party�s Tel Aviv headquarters. �Had they refrained from attacking us, these people would not have become refugees,� he said.

Netanyahu also dismissed claims that Israel�s settlements in the West Bank are the root cause of the conflict.

�They are trying to say that our presence in Judea and Samaria is the reason for the conflict, which isn�t true,� he said. �They took the results of the 1967 conflict � that is, the construction in Judea and Samaria � and turned them into the reason for the conflict.�

�No progress without written US pledge�

Addressing the current peace talks, Netanyahu said that he expects written US assurances for the benefit package to be received by Israel in exchange for a three-month extension of the settlement construction freeze.

The PM made it clear that there will be no progress on in peace talks without such pledge.

�As long as there�s nothing in a written document, we won�t be able to advance,� he said. �Reality is complex, and that raises the need for an explicit American pledge.�

The meeting was attended by some 40 activists and was held at Netanyahu�s initiative, as part of his promise to hold closed-door sessions with activists once every two weeks in order to share developments on the diplomatic and political front with them. �