Israel's prime minister vowed on Sunday that his country would retain parts of the occupied West Bank forever. "Our message is clear: We are planting here, we will stay here, we will build here, this place will be an inseparable part of the state of Israel for eternity," Netanyahu declared at a tree-planting ceremony at a settlement just south of Jerusalem.
"We are here and we will stay here and build here as part of sovereign Jerusalem," he said, according to the AP.
Meanwile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh said Netanyahu's tree-planting Sunday undermined peace prospects. "This is an unacceptable act that destroys all the efforts being exerted by senator Mitchell in order to bring the parties back to the negotiating table," he said.
