In a conference call with US Jewish leaders sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Netanyahu said there need not be a conflict between Israeli security needs and Palestinian sovereignty.

Germany, Japan and South Korea have had foreign troops on their soil for an extended period and nobody said that was “an affront to their respective sovereignties,” Netanyahu said, referring to US troops that were stationed in those countries following World War II.

Netanyahu said he did not believe an international force would be able to provide Israel with the security guarantees it needed, and that “the only force that can be relied on to defend the Jewish people is the Israel Defense Forces.”