Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the new government will make every effort to reach “a durable peace” with all of Israel’s Arab neighbors and Muslim world but vowed to act tough against those who question the Jewish state’s right to exist.

Israel seeks durable and comprehensive peace with the Arab world. We will engage in peace talks with sincerity. Israel will negotiate peace at economic, security and diplomatic levels,” Netanyahu said. This is in the wake of growing international concerns that the peace process with the Palestinians may falter under Netanyahu’s right-wing dominated coalition government.

“Whenever Israel stands before peace-seeking an Arab leader, it follows and answers the call,” the Likud leader told the Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem during a special session marking the 30thanniversary of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. He also warned Palestinians saying, “If you want peace, fight terror”.

“We will not let anyone question our right to exist. Israel can’t afford to treat statements against it light- heartedly,” he stressed in an apparent reference to Islamic factions that do not consider Israel’s existence legitimate.

Netanyahu praised late Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for “their wisdom in making the impossible possible.” Israel and Egypt had earlier signed a peace treaty on March 26, 1979, normalizing relations between the two countries.

The outgoing Israel Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert urged lawmakersto follow his government’s path and make the peace process a central focus of the coming term. “Our avid peace efforts were acknowledged by the international community,” He added.