Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday directly appealed to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to "abandon the fantasy" of flooding Israel with refugees.

"President Abbas: recognize the Jewish state... you would be telling the Palestinians to abandon the fantasy of flooding Israel with refugees," the Israeli prime minister said in an address to delegates at the annual policy conference of pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.

"In recognizing the Jewish state, you would make clear that you are truly prepared to end the conflict," he said, referring to a highly sensitive issue that has become a major point of contention in the struggling US-led peace talks.

AFP