以色列总理内塔尼亚胡说，在未来同巴勒斯坦人签署的任何和平协议中，以色列必须对所占领的约旦河西岸部分地区保留军事控制权。巴勒斯坦官员拒绝接受这一立场。
内塔尼亚胡星期二视察约旦河谷时做出上述表示。约旦河谷是在约旦边界上属于西岸的地带。内塔尼亚胡把这个地带称作是以色列针对对自己的安全威胁的“第一道防线”。他说，如果以色列不继续在约旦河沿岸地带派驻军队，“恐怖分子”将会走私进可以打击以色列所有地区的火箭和导弹。
巴勒斯坦人宣称对所有约旦河西岸和东耶路撒冷拥有主权，把这些地方作为今后建国的土地。他们长期以来一直要求以色列完全撤出这些地区。
在内塔尼亚胡做出要在约旦河谷保留以色列的军事存在的讲话之际，以色列媒体报导说，他正在策划一个新的倡议来恢复巴以和谈。双方的和谈去年9月在美国的调停下开始了数星期之后破裂。
美国华尔街日报星期二援引以色列国防部长巴拉克的话说，内塔尼亚胡可能提议建立一个拥有临时边界的巴勒斯坦国。这个想法早就遭到巴勒斯坦领导人的拒绝。
路透社援引巴勒斯坦民族权力机构发言人阿布戴纳赫的话说，如果内塔尼亚胡对于恢复谈判是认真的话，他就必须停止以色列在定居点的活动。阿布戴纳赫说，以色列提出的任何其他提议都是“浪费时间”，是逃避以色列的责任。
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel must retain military control of part of the occupied West Bank in any future peace deal with the Palestinians, a position that Palestinian officials reject.
Mr. Netanyahu made the comment Tuesday as he visited the Jordan Valley, a strip of West Bank land on the border with Jordan that he called Israel’s “first line of defense” against security threats. He said that without a continued Israeli military presence along the Jordan River, “terrorists” would smuggle in rockets and missiles that could strike all of Israel.
Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and East Jerusalem for a future state and have long demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from those areas.
Mr. Netanyahu comments about keeping an Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley come as Israeli media outlets are reporting he is planning a new initiative to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that broke down weeks after they started last September under U.S. mediation.
The Wall Street Journal newspaper quoted Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak Tuesday as saying Mr. Netanyahu may propose a Palestinian state with temporary borders, another idea Palestinian leaders have long rejected.
The Reuters news agency quotes Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah as saying Mr. Netanyahu must stop Israeli settlement activity if he is serious about resuming negotiations. Abu Rdainah said any other Israeli proposal is a “waste of time” and an evasion of Israel’s obligations.