( CNN ) The prospect of a Palestinian state is nil so long as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stays in office , Netanyahu said in a Monday interview . Asked by an interviewer with the Israeli news site , NRG , if it was true that a Palestinian nation would never be formed while he 's prime minister , Netanyahu replied , `` Indeed . '' His interview with NRG came as he courted conservative supporters a day before Israelis head to the polls for national elections . `` Anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state , anyone who is going to evacuate territories today , is simply giving a base for attacks to the radical Islam against Israel , '' he said . `` This is the true reality that was created here in the last few years . '' Netanyahu went on to say that any opponents on the left who might argue otherwise are `` sticking their head in the sand , time and time again . '' He further said a strong government led by his Likud Party is necessary to beat back international pressure to divide Jerusalem and return Israel to its pre-1967 borders , according to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency report on the NRG interview . `` I do not give in , '' Netanyahu told NRG . `` We stood fast against huge pressure , and we will continue to do so . '' Following Netanyahu 's interview , chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat , who is also a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization , said the Israeli Prime Minister 's stance is nothing new . `` Netanyahu has done everything possible to bury the two-state solution , '' he said . `` Netanyahu 's statement at the illegal settlement of Har Homa is a response to all those governments who tried to block Palestinian diplomatic initiatives . He could n't have done that without counting on full impunity from the international community . Now the world must learn its lesson and understand that impunity wo n't bring peace , only justice will . '' Earlier in the day , Netanyahu continued his efforts to drum up support during a campaign speech in the Har Homa neighborhood of Jerusalem , which he boasted that he helped establish in 1997 , during his first prime ministerial term . Israel considers Har Homa part of a unified Jerusalem , while Palestinians consider the neighborhood an illegal settlement . If he is re-elected , Netanyahu said , he will continue to promote construction in Jerusalem as a means of national security , he said . `` The pressure around this decision back then was enormous . But I insisted -- I ordered the construction and it paid off , '' he said . `` Today , Har Homa is a flourishing neighborhood in which tens of thousands of Israeli civilians are living . As we proved in the past , my friends in the Likud Party and I , we will keep Jerusalem protected and keep developing it . '' Opposition leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni of the Zionist Union , he alleged , are `` ready to surrender to every dictate . '' Livni , he said , has denounced previous calls for more construction in Jerusalem 's Jewish neighborhoods , while Herzog would strive to establish a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem . `` I will not let that happen , '' he said . `` My friends and I in the Likud will keep Jerusalem united in all its parts , and we will keep fortifying it so that dividing it will not be possible and it will always remain united . We will keep developing our eternal capital . '' A vote for Herzog or Livni is a vote for the establishment of `` Hamastan , '' Netanyahu said , referring to Hamas , the Islamist group which dominates Gaza . He further alleged that his opponents would yield to international pressure and `` huge financial support coming from abroad , from left-leaning tycoons and foreign governments . '' He closed his speech saying , `` The meaning of this is simple : We will not be able to keep Israel safe and secure and the terror against us that once emerged through these hills with machine guns will turn into missile fire . '' CNN 's Kevin Flower contributed to this report .
`` Impunity wo n't bring peace , only justice will , '' chief Palestinian negotiator says . Creating Palestinian state is `` simply giving a base for attacks to the radical NRG , '' PM says . Benjamin Netanyahu 's words come as he courts conservative voters a day before elections .