Any final status agreement with the Palestinians must take Israel's security needs into consideration so that Hamas doesn't take over territory should Israel concede it, Justice Minister Tzipi LIvni (Hatnua) told the World Jewish Congress on Wednesday.
"It's is clear to me as a negotiator that any agreement should and would give an answer to our security concerns, we are not going to throw the keys to the other side of the border and hope that Hamas won't catch it," Livni said.
Livni who heads Israel's negotiations with the Palestinians spoke to the WJC's Executive Committee in Jerusalem in the midst of back to back talks with PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat with the help of US envoy Martin Indyk.
Israel has an obligation to ensure the security of its citizens, but she said, that is best done through a final status agreement with the Palestinians. Failure to reach such an agreement is a security threat to Israel, Livni said.
Israel's security is dependent not just on its army, but on its international relations and legitimacy to act when needed.
"When there is no peace process, there is no legitimacy to act," she said.
The status quo cannot be maintained, LIvni said. "The idea of sitting and doing nothing is not acceptable and was never acceptable," Livni said.
Those who doubt this need only look to European steps against settlement entities and products, she said. The delegitimization of settlements increasing also includes all of Israel, Livni said.
Continued settlement building emphasizes the already existing mistaken perception that Israel is a "colonial state," she said.
The longer the conflict persists, the more its erodes Israel's position within the negotiating room, she said. The change in the international community's stance with regard to the contours of a two state solution has not been in Israel's interest, she said.
If Israel fails to come to a final status agreement with the Palestinians, than it could be in a position where the international community forces it to accept a Palestinian state on its terms and not Israel's, she said.
During the nine month negotiating process that began in July, Livni said, all core issues have been on the table.
Livni said she stopped the advancement of a bill which passed the ministerial legislative committee on Sunday which would have required 80 parliamentarians before the government could negotiate any proposals to divide Jerusalem or change its status.
The right opposes a two state solution, she said, but has failed to present another viable alternative.
But Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) said that the failure to know the best solution doesn't mean one should execute the wrong one.
"We have to fight the battle for perception. We are doing a lousy job no doubt. So fix it. But do not commit suicide because it is giving you a bad [reputation]. Fix it. Do not commit suicide because of that," Bennett said.
He has in the past argued against placing a Palestinian state in Area C of the West Bank and believes that Israel should annex that area.
At the WJC on Wednesday morning Bennett said that history was filled with instances where common perception was wrong. "The fact that everyone knows it, does not mean it is right," he said.
The Palestinians have self governance in Areas A and B of the West Bank and should continue to do so, he said, and added that he does not want to return to the situation of 20 years ago where Israel controlled Palestinian civilian life in those areas.
But while the Palestinian Authority runs its own civilian affairs it can still not be considered a viable state.
"If we today declared a [Palestinian] state there [in the West Bank] it would be a failed and non-viable state, it would be a failed and hostile state," Bennett said.
"There is this obsession with a specific idea of implanting a Palestinian state 7 minutes from here," Bennett said.
There are other options that can be considered that does not include giving the Palestinians Area C of the West Bank, he said.
Jordan should be involved in the conversation, Bennett said.
Earlier in the morning, MK Issac Herzog (Labor) who supports a two state solution said that there were many creative possibilities for a final status agreement that includes land swaps for the West Bank, particularly so that Israel could keep the Gush Etzion bloc and the Ma'aleh Adumim settlement.
With respect to Jerusalem, he said, there could be a plans that both kept the municipal city united, even as it was split between Israel and a future Palestinian state.
"We have to be innovative here, provided that the holy sites are under Israeli sovereignty," Herzog said.
But he cautioned, he did not believe that a final status agreement was possible within nine months. It would be better to aim for an interim deal, he said.