But his longer-term strategy is to ensure that a future Palestinian state, which Mr Netanyahu half-heartedly says he would tolerate, is tightly circumscribed.

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"The issue of borders between Israel living side-by-side with a future Palestinian state is one that needs to be resolved through negotiation, " said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

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U.S. officials have also pressed Israelis and Palestinians to immediately negotiate the borders of a future Palestinian state in order to minimize the importance of Israeli construction activities.

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He could argue to his people that hitting Hamas and the Islamic Jihad was necessary to safeguard the peace process and, with it, the future promise of a Palestinian state.

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And in that vision, he does see an Israeli state, our good friend Israel, that is secure, where it is fully recognized and accepted that Israel has the right to exist within secure borders, where terrorism has been wiped out as a factor in the Middle East, and where the Palestinian people have a state in which they can determine their own fate and their own future.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy