The Israeli prime minister on Tuesday denied reports he agreed for Jerusalem to be declared the capital of a Palestinian state.
"The prime minister has not changed his declared stance, and insists in all his political talks that united Jerusalem will remain under Israeli sovereignty in any peace agreement and that Israel's defense borders will not be paved back to the 1967 lines," Benjamin Netanyahu's office said, according to Ynetnews.
The statement came in the wake of the Egyptian foreign minister saying last week that Netanyahu was ready to discuss making "Arab Jerusalem" the capital of a Palestinian state.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit spoke a few days after Netanyahu held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The issue of settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, has been the main obstacle to reviving peace talks with the Palestinians, which were halted over a year ago.
The Palestinian National Authority has refused to return to the negotiating table until the construction is completely halted.
Under the internationally agreed roadmap for Middle East peace, Israel is obliged to freeze construction in the Palestinian territories and remove unauthorized outposts built since 2001.
TEL AVIV, January 12 (RIA Novosti)
