Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the recognition of Palestine by several Western countries in recent days "does not obligate Israel to anything", reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
"The shameful capitulation of some leaders to Palestinian terrorism does not obligate Israel to anything. There will be no Palestinian state," the Israeli leader's office said after six European countries, including France and Belgium, announced on Monday that they would recognize Palestine.
Netanyahu's office added that the Israeli prime minister is negotiating a security agreement with neighboring Syria, DPA reported.
The statement specified that the necessary conditions for its conclusion are the demilitarization of the border area in southwestern Syria and the protection of the Druze religious minority, which Israel considers its ally.
Netanyahu hinted at the holding of such negotiations days ago.
It turned out that in reality they have been held for months, only in secret. According to Syrian sources, a meeting took place in Paris in August between Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shibani and an Israeli delegation.
Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa also confirmed that negotiations were underway, but stressed that the conclusion of an agreement did not mean normalization of relations with Israel.
The process is rather aimed at resolving the issue of the Syrian and Israeli military presence in the border area. Israel wants to prevent Iranian-backed militias and armed Islamist groups hostile to Israel from establishing themselves in this area. Israel and Syria have been officially at war since 1948 and to this day have not concluded a peace treaty between them. The main bone of contention is the fate of the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in 1967 and annexed in 1981.