Netanyahu invites Abbas to Knesset

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to deliver a speech at the Israeli parliament Knesset provided that the latter recognises Israel as a Jewish state. "I call on Abu Mazen from here: Come to the Knesset, I will come to Ramallah," Netanyahu said in a speech at a special Knesset session to honor French President Francois Hollande. "I said in the Knesset a few times that I accept the solution of two states for two peoples, and the ending of the conflict. Not every member of the Knesset agrees but one thing most of us agree on: real peace must be a two-way affair," he affirmed. Insisting on the Jewish nature of Israel, Netanyahu said: "Get up on this platform and recognise the historical truth: the Jews have a nearly 4, 000-year-old link to the land of Israel." For his part, Hollande demanded an end to the Israeli settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories and acceptance of a two-state solution with Palestinians. "Settlement activity must stop because it compromises the two-state solution," said in speech at the Israeli Knesset. "France's position is known: a negotiated settlement, with the state of Israel and (the future state) of Palestine both having Jerusalem as capital, coexisting in peace and security."