Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the Palestinians are responsible for the deadlock in peace talks. Speaking at a conference of Foreign Ministry representatives, Netanyahu said, they have been evading negotiations while his country is striving for peace.Earlier, Netanyahu said in an interview that talks with the Palestinians could result in an interim peace agreement, which was rejected by Palestinians.

The Palestinians have repeatedly stressed they will not resume direct peace talks unless there is a halt to settlement building in the West Bank as well as a freeze in East Jerusalem, which they consider the capital of their future state. Direct talks were re-launched on 2nd September this year after a 20-month hiatus but stalled three weeks later when Israel refused to renew a moratorium on settlement building.