Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Sunday that "responsible states, like those in Europe, recognize that a mere "declaration cannot change the situation on the ground," responding to statements made earlier in the day by Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer.
Ben-Eliezer had said that he "would not be surprised if within a year the whole world will support a Palestinian state, including the United States."
Ayalon added that it is the Palestinians who have refused to returned to the negotiating table and that Israel still has a lot of tools in its arsenal that it has not yet used.
