(AP).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his suggestion of a demilitarized Palestinian state was gaining international ground and was the only solution for Middle East peace.
"The idea of a demilitarized state will in course become accepted," Netanyahu said after meeting the leaders of France and Italy.
"If it is not accepted, there will not be an agreement," he told following his meeting in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "It cannot be that there is a Palestinian state and the struggle will continue within it."
Netanyahu reiterated his stance that Israel had no intention "of expropriating additional land" for settlements, but that it had a right to build within existing settlements.
"All we want is for [the settlers] to have a normal life," he said.
He praised the French president as "an old friend of Israel and a great champion of peace and security for our country and the Middle East."
Speaking to reporters in Paris, Netanyau downplayed the tensions with the U.S. Differences could occur "among the best of friends," Netanyahu said, adding that Israel was in the process of clarifying its settlement policy to Washington.
"We have an unbreakable bond of friendship with the United States," Netanyahu added.
"I asked for the postponement of the meeting," Netanyahu said about the talks he had planned to hold with Mitchell in the French capital. "Mr. Mitchell agreed immediately. We believed we had to clarify several issues and statistics. The defense minister will do this on Monday in the United States."
"We will continue the contacts, with goodwill and with the intention of reaching understandings that will advance a peace process - a diplomatic process between us and the Palestinians, and I hope between us and the rest of the Arab world."