An international presence being proposed in the Palestinian territories would only complicate the situation, Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami said Friday.
"Israel, in principle, is not against an international presence as long as that presence could secure an accord, and help make it work," he said after a meeting in Oslo with Norway's Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland.
But as long as there was no agreement, any international presence, whatever it might be, would only complicate the situation, he added.
Violence was continuing in the West Bank town of Hebron despite the fact that international observers were there, he said.
"The best way to reduce the violence is for the Israelis and the Palestinians to sit down together as we did last week."
Earlier Friday, Ben Ami visited Stockholm for talks on the peace process with Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson and Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.
Persson told Ben-Ami that Sweden did not seek a special role in the peace process but could help mediate between Israel and the Palestinians if asked, said Persson's spokeswoman, Anna Hilsen.
On a brief visit to neighboring Copenhagen on Thursday, Ben-Ami dismissed talk of deploying international peacekeepers in Palestinian territories, saying a peace pact was needed first, the Danish news agency Ritzau said.
"What's important now is the will for peace," he said, after talks with his Danish counterpart, Niels Helveg Petersen.
An international presence would not help without a peace deal first, he added.
Talks were continuing between Israelis and Palestinians and both sides were taking initiatives to find a peaceful settlement of their conflict, Ben-Ami added – OSLO (AFP)
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