LONDON
David Cameron urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin to pursue a two-state solution with Palestine, a Downing Street spokesperson has said.
The British Prime Minister made the comments in a phone call to Netanyahu on Monday, after congratulating him on winning the recent Israeli elections.
Cameron told Netanyahu he was "looking forward to working with the new government when it will be formed".
Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party emerged as the biggest winner in last Tuesday’s parliamentary elections with 30 seats, giving him the majority needed to form Israel's next government.
Cameron also reiterated that, as a firm friend of Israel "the U.K. continues to believe that a two-state solution was the best way to achieve a lasting peace and to secure Israel’s long-term security and prosperity," the spokesperson said.
Earlier on Monday Cameron told lawmakers in the House of Commons that the United Kingdom "must put pressure on both sides to make sure talks get going on a two-state solution".
- 'Disastrous' solution
He said: "I think that’s in the long term interest not just to the Palestinians, but also to the Israelis, and Britain’s policy on that will not change."
"If there isn’t a two-state solution, you end up moving towards a one-state solution which I think will be disastrous for the Jewish people in Israel."
Netanyahu said in the run-up to last week’s elections that he would not allow the creation of a Palestine state if he were re-elected.
But, following the ballot, he went back those comments during an interview with an American national news outlet and said he supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, albeit with conditions.
The two prime ministers also discussed the ongoing negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, agreeing that it was essential Iran was prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Tehran has long-insisted its nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes.
