However, Scottish MP and Shadow Defence Secretary Mr Murphy said it was time for the SNP to stop "shilly shallying" over the referendum date and "get on with it".

BBC: Labour's Jim Murphy presses Salmond on 'devo max' issue

The real worry behind Mr Netanyahu's shilly-shallying is that he has shown no sign, since his reluctant and caveat-ridden acceptance in June of the two-state idea, that he really envisages, let alone welcomes, a Palestinian state.

ECONOMIST: Israel, Palestine and the Jewish settlements