国际英语新闻:Netanyahu slams Palestinians during Kerry visit to Israel

JERUSALEM, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Palestinian negotiators during U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to the country on Wednesday morning.

According to a statement released by the Prime Minister's Office, Netanyahu said he was "concerned" about the state of the talks.

"The Palestinians continue to create artificial crises, in order to evade the need to make the necessary historical decisions to get peace," he said.

Kerry's visit to Israel is a part of his nine-day international diplomatic tour and was primarily meant to review peace negotiations between the two sides, as reports of harsh disagreements between the parties surfaced.

Netanyahu argued that Israel has a right to build in the settlements, in return for releasing Palestinian prisoners; the Israeli cabinet voted in July to release 104 prisoners, nearly 50 of which have been released in August and last week.

This contrasts sharply with Palestinian sentiments. Palestinian negotiators object to Israel's decision to build thousands of more housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, lands which Israel annexed during the 1967 Mideast War and many of which are expected to be a part of a future Palestinian state.

The Palestinian negotiations team, which threatened to resign next week, said on Tuesday that it would bolt the peace talks if the settlements' construction continues, Palestinian media outlets reported.

According to a Palestinian report on Tuesday, the meeting between the two negotiations teams ended with shouting.

It was the U.S. secretary of state who, in late July, brought the two parties back to the negotiations table after months of shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

After the meeting, Kerry headed out to the West Bank for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He will later meet Israeli President Shimon Peres and again meet with Netanyahu for dinner.

Kerry will attempt to bridge the gap between both sides, and, according to recent reports, may possibly introduce a new U.S. proposal for an interim agreement, as suggested by senior Israeli Knesset (parliament) member Zehava Galon earlier this week.