Jerusalem, 7 December 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Sunday of "opportunities for peace" in the Middle East, but at the same time continued to reject an independent Palestinian state.

"The Iranian axis has been battered," Netanyahu said after talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Jerusalem, in comments about the hostilities that have rocked the region over the past two years.

"We believe there's a path to advance a broader peace with the Arab states and a path also to establish a workable peace with our Palestinian neighbours," Netanyahu continued.

"But we're not going to create a state that will be committed to our destruction at our doorstep."

Merz said they were working "towards the goal of a new Middle East" in which the Israeli state would also be recognized. "Our conviction is that the prospective establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel presumably offers the best prospect for this future," the German chancellor said.

However, he said a two-state solution can only be achieved through negotiations and will "be at the end of these negotiations." Such negotiations were necessary now, he said.

The two-state solution envisions Israel and an independent Palestinian state existing peacefully side by side.

Netanyahu said the first phase of US President Donald Trump's Gaza plan was "almost" over, with the body of just one hostage still in the Gaza Strip.

He stressed that disarming the Palestinian militant Hamas organization was a prerequisite for a peace settlement. The second phase of the ceasefire plan would be more difficult to implement than the first, the Israeli premier noted.

Netanyahu also warned of a dangerous resurgence of anti-Semitism around the world. Despite Hamas' atrocities against civilians on October 7, 2023, its flags were being carried at demonstrations in international capitals, he complained. "This is outrageous."