Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, on Sunday gave conditional backing to the goal of creating an independent Palestinian state, but insisted such an entity would have to be subject to tough limitations on its sovereignty.

A Palestinian state, he said, would have to be demilitarised and barred from acquiring weapons and signing treaties with nations hostile to Israel. Mr Netanyahu also insisted that Jerusalem would remain the “united” capital of Israel, and rejected Palestinian claims to occupied Arab East Jerusalem, which they see as the capital of their future state.