Any future peace deal to be put to referendum: Israeli PM

JERUSALEM, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he will bring any future peace agreement with the Palestinians to a national referendum.

During a meeting with the Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, Netanyahu said "If we get to a peace agreement with the Palestinians, I'd like to bring it to a referendum."

"Israel is not Switzerland. Your neighborhood is tranquil and less challenging... but there are a few things we can learn from you, one of them is the referendum," he said.

On Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister said that his country needs to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians in order to " prevent Israel from becoming a bi-national state."

In a meeting with the senior Foreign Ministry officials, Netanyahu said he was "hoping that the negations with the Palestinians will resume soon."

The recent remarks by Netanyahu came following the Arab League' s announcement on Tuesday to revise and modify Arab Peace initiative, which was put forward by Saudi Arabia in 2002.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians came to a halt in 2010 over Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank.

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