Netanyahu: Unilateral Palestinian steps will be answered in kind

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel had taken big steps for the sake of an accord with the Palestinians, but at the last moment, negotiations were derailed by their refusal to recognize Israel as the Jewish national state – even after this was endorsed by the US – and then went on to submit unilateral applications to the United Nations. Speaking at the weekly cabinet session for the first time on the breakdown of US-sponsored talks with the Palestinians, Netanyahu said that any unilateral steps taken by the Palestinians would be countered by unilateral steps.