Netanyahu: I will hold peace talks with Palestinian Authority

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Wednesday to engage in peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, in an apparent bid to ease concerns that he will try to freeze past peace efforts once he takes office.

"I will negotiate with the PA for peace," the Likud leader told Israeli, Arab and foreign businesspeople at the STEP Jerusalem Wealth Management Conference.

He also said that peace is an enduring goal for all Israeli governments, and that the Palestinians must understand that his government will be a partner for peace.

Netanyahu has said in the past that instead of talking about contentious issues such as the status of Jerusalem, the first step to a lasting peace needs to be the fostering of the Palestinians' economic situation.

At the conference, he also stressed the importance of Palestinian economic development.

The Likud leader told the conference participants that "security, prosperity and peace are all intertwined," and urged them to invest in the Palestinian economy.

"You won't be disappointed," he told the businesspeople.

As Netanyahu spoke at the conference, Army Radio reported that he had struck a secret deal with Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman for highly contentious construction on West Bank land known as E1.

The move would make it difficult to reach a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians on the question of permanent borders.

	PM-designate Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at a conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
	Photo by: (Emil Salman / Jini)