JERUSALEM
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Tuesday that he does not expect a peace agreement with the Palestinians in the foreseeable future.
“I do not expect any peace agreement with the Palestinians during my lifetime,” Israeli Defense minister said at the annual Herzliya Conference. "We should find a way to manage this conflict in a way where the two sides can coexist without a solution."
Speaking about the peace talks, he said the Palestinians refused every peace framework proposed to them.
Ya’alon, however, asserted that the Israeli army operation in the West Bank is essential to the security of Israel.
“If the Israeli army withdraws from the West Bank, it might fall into the hands of Hamas and this will pose a threat to Israel and to the Kingdom of Jordan as well,” he said.
The annual Herzliya conference, which is organized by the Institute for Policy and Strategy in Herzliya, is considered one of Israel's most highly-anticipated events.
The city of Herzliya was built on the ruins of Saidna Ali, a Palestinian village destroyed in 1948 in the aftermath of Israel's founding.
It was later renamed Herzliya after Theodore Herzl, considered the founder of modern Zionism.
