Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations    

    JERUSALEM, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Tuesday that peace negotiations with the Palestinians are in the Jewish people's best interests and "such talks help guarantee Israel's future as a Jewish, democratic state."

    The top diplomat made the remarks at the opening session of fifth annual Jerusalem Conference held at the Hyatt Hotel in Jerusalem.

    "Failing to negotiate and hold peace talks with the Palestinians will plunge Israel into a full-scale religious war for which there is no resolution," though pragmatic, moderate forces within the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) fail to live up to their Road Map commitments, Livni said.

    She added that "time is not on Israel's side, and we will eventually have to concede parts of the country."

    Livni underlined that "Israel's security is not only an Israeli interest, but an essential step ahead of a Palestinian state."

    Addressing the calls to cease the negotiations in light of the ongoing Qassam attacks, Livni said, "halting the negotiations will not stop terror. Terror must be answered with force, and simultaneously we must create a process with the moderate elements."