Even in case of a two-state solution between Israeli and the Palestinians, Israel will retain military control over all the Palestinian Territories, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.
"In any case, with or without a permanent settlement, Israel will maintain full security control over all areas west of the Jordan River," including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said in a video message.
The US, Israel's most important ally, have been increasingly calling for a two-state solution that foresees the peaceful co-existence of Israel and a Palestinian state, based on the borders of the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel since 1967 - the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Washington is also pushing for a two-state solution as a means to end both the current Gaza war and the decades-old Middle East conflict.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, a politician on the Israeli right, has built his long political career to a large extent on his declared opposition to the two-state solution and he reiterated this decades-old stance on Monday.
His government on Sunday rejected a permanent peace settlement with the Palestinians imposed by "international diktats," with his Cabinet unanimously approving a declaration to this effect.
Netanyahu was responding to media reports that the United States and other allies could recognize a Palestinian state without Israel's consent.
