Netanyahu: Israel willing to make 'painful compromises'

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu today promised to make “painful compromises” for peace with Palestinians but refused to agree any deal that threatened the country’s security or identity as a Jewish state.

Speaking in the US before a joint meeting of Congress that showered him with more than two dozen sustained standing ovations, Mr Netanyahu said Israel wants and needs peace but repeated his flat rejection of a return to what he called the “indefensible” borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.