Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, have held face- to-face meetings for the first time in two years, in which they agreed to work toward a goal of reaching a lasting peace deal within a year.

But in one significant change, Israel is now demanding that it be recognised as a Jewish state.

Mark Regev, the spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, spoke to Al Jazeera's Shihab Rattansi and explained why the Israelis have added to the time-worn list of issues under discussion.