Singapore urges 2-state plan for Israel

SINGAPORE — Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, hosting a visit by his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Monday that his country believes in a twostate solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Lee explained his stance at a joint news briefing with Netanyahu, who does not endorse the two-nation approach. Lee said he realizes a two-state solution is difficult to achieve, but said it is the only way to achieve peace.

Netanyahu’s official visit is the first to Singapore by an Israeli head of government. Last year Lee became the first Singaporean prime minister to visit Israel.

Netanyahu referred to Singapore and Israel at the news conference as being “kindred spirits.” Both nations are small, with significant defense and high-tech industries. The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1969 but have ties dating back to 1965, when Israeli military advisers covertly assisted Singapore after its declaration of independence.

Netanyahu did not mention tensions in the Middle East in his remarks at the news briefing, after which questions were not allowed.

But afterward, at a state dinner, he said he believes that there is an opportunity to seek peace now “because I sense a great change in the Arab world, in many Arab countries, and I hope … to be able to use that newfound attitude toward Israel to help us solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as well.”