Ehud Barak: Palestinian statehood 'not helpful'

Israel is open to new ways of solving the Middle East peace process, but does not view Palestinian statehood as helpful, Ehud Barak has said.

In an interview with the BBC's Jeremy Bowen, Israel's defence minister said that the Palestinian bid for UN recognition would not achieve as much as negotiations.

Mr Barak said that his first priority was protecting Israel, but he thought that the move would not be helpful for Palestinians either.