Palestinian diplomat: Netanyahu is isolating Israel

UNITED NATIONS, March 18 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's insistence that a two-state solution not be applied to Palestine will cause Israel's isolation, a Palestinian diplomat said Wednesday.

"He is putting himself and the Israeli government, if he succeeds in forming it, in a complete collision with the international community, including the United States and Europe," said Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations. "There's a global consensus on a two-state solution."

Netanyahu's Likud Party won Israel's national election Tuesday, insuring him a third term as Prime Minister. The day before, he reminded the electorate, in an interview with the Israeli news website NRG, a Palestinian nation would never be formed on his watch.

"Anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state, anyone who is going to evacuate territories today, is simply giving a base for attacks to the radical Islam against Israel. This is the true reality that was created here in the last few years," he said.

Mansour said Palestinians are considering their next move to increase pressure on Israel to acknowledge Palestine's status as a state.

"We will be strategizing and planning things. If Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to stick to fighting all of us, then all of us need to defend ourselves and fight back," he said.

Palestine has observer state status in the U.N. General Assembly, and wide support in the United Nations.