RAMALLAH, February 23, 2017 (WAFA) – Statements Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made in Australia during which he expressed support for a Palestinian autonomous rule instead of an independent state is an invitation to violence, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry warned on Thursday.

It said in a statement that Netanyahu has closed the door to the two-state solution and negotiations and opened it wide to extremism.

Netanyahu’s statements, which the Foreign Ministry described as provocative, “puts an end to the culture of peace and shuts the door to negotiations, while opening it wide to violent extremism in the region,” it said.

The Foreign Ministry called on all countries, particularly the United States, which kept silent toward such statements, to openly declare their position from Israeli attempts to drop the two-state solution.

It said if Israel continues to advocate this position of no state for the Palestinians, which it said is a blatant challenge to the international will that supports a negotiated settlement based on two states, it will lead the Palestinians “to reconsider the mutual recognition between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel.”

M.K.