Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Tuesday to the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, calling on Palestinian leaders to “stand with Israel and the United States on the right side of the moral divide, the side of peace, reconciliation and hope.” Israel’s left-leaning Ha’aretz headlined its coverage of the speech “Netanyahu: Israel prepared to make peace, but Abbas must recognize Jewish state.”

Saying that he was “prepared to make historic peace with our Palestinian neighbors,” Netanyahu painted a picture of a thriving, peaceful Middle East in which the lives of millions were bettered by the technology and innovation that Israel could provide to its Arab neighbors. A “combination of Israeli innovation and Gulf entrepreneurship could catapult the entire region forward,” Netanyahu said.

The outlet’s evaluation was echoed by the Washington Post‘s Jennifer Rubin, who noted that Netanyahu “dwelled at length on the peace process” and “gave a new rationale for Israel’s desire for a peace deal – the promise of improved and robust relations with Arab states.” For their part top Palestinian officials declared that Netanyahu’s speech was unacceptable to the point that it amounted to “an official announcement of a unilateral end to negotiations.”

[Photo: IsraeliPM / YouTube]