Peres calls need for peace deal 'very urgent'

In CNN interview, president warns Palestinians against unilateral declaration of statehood, says it "won't change the situation."

Shimon Peres 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Shimon Peres 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
President Shimon Peres called the need for a peace agreement with the Palestinians "very urgent" in an interview with CNN on Sunday.
"I think neither side has much time. We have to act dynamically," the president stated.
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Peres warned the Palestinian leadership against seeking a UN declaration of statehood outside of a peace agreement.
"If you go for a declaration, you have a declaration. You won't have a change in the situation. It's not enough to declare, you have to agree," he said.
The president called for a two-state solution to the conflict. "If there will be one state without a clear majority or an un-Jewish majority, that is against everything we are trying to work for," he stated.
Peres said that despite the deadlock in the diplomatic process, he believes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is "trying to arrive at peace."