Netanyahu calls on Abbas to address Israeli parliament

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday invited Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to address the Israeli parliament and publicly recognise Jewish links to the land of Israel. "I call on him from here today: let's break the deadlock," Netanyahu said in a special address to the parliament, or Knesset, in honour of a visit by French President Francois Hollande. "Come to the Israeli Knesset and I'll come to Ramallah," he said, referring to Abbas's West Bank headquarters. "Get up on this platform and recognise the historical truth: the Jews have a nearly 4,000-year-old link to the land of Israel. The Jews are a people with a right to self-determination," he said. "In real peace, all Palestinian claims regarding the State of Israel will end, including national claims on its territory and sovereignty."