Israeli, Palestinian standpoints on peace talks
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Israel and the Palestinians are scheduled to resume their sporadic direct peace negotiations Thursday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas attending a U.S.-mediated summit in Washington.
Expectations remain low for the latest face-to-face talks, the first in 20 months, as the two Mideast neighbors, locked in their decades-old feud, are still divided by bitter differences. Following is a glimpse at both sides' stances.
Israel
1. Three requirements for future Palestinian state
Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed his conditions for the establishment of a future Palestinian state, which include guaranteeing Israel's security, recognizing Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, and existing as a demilitarized state.
Any final peace agreement "will be based on three initial components: First of all, on real and sustainable security arrangements on the ground; secondly, upon recognition of Israel as the national state of the Jewish people, and this means that the solution to a problem like the demand for return will be realized in the territory of the Palestinian state; and the third component, the end to the conflict. We are discussing a peace agreement between Israel and a demilitarized Palestinian state," Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Aug. 22.
Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev firmly denied the requirements were preconditions for the direct talks, saying "they are just the Israeli positions brought into the peace talks."
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