Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a major address asserted that the primary obstacle to Middle East peace is the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Netanyahu made his remarks Oct. 6 at Bar-Ilan University. It was his first address there since a 2009 speech in which he famously declared his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Now, as negotiations have resumed for the first time in three years, Netanyahu declared that Palestinian leadership, not Israel, deserved primary blame for the conflict.

He began his speech discussing nearly 4,000 years of Jewish history in the land of Israel and later said Palestinian refugees should not be allowed a right of return to Israel.

The speech came five days after Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly, a speech in which he spent most of his time emphasizing the dangers of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program. — jta