Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau has said a Palestinian state would not be created if he was re-elected this week.

In a stark contradiction of a 2009 speech in which he voiced support for a two-state solution, Mr Netanyahu's comments have been described as a last-minute attempt to win voters from Naftali Bennett's Jewish Home party.

Mr Netanyahu made the remarks in an interview with the NRG website - which is owned by casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and linked with the settler newspaper Makor Rishon.

He said: "I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state and evacuate territory gives territory away to radical Islamist attacks against Israel.

"The left has buried its head in the sand time and after time and ignores this, but we are realistic and understand."

Mr Netanyahu said that if the Zionist Union were to win the election, "it would attach itself to the international community and do their bidding".

He said that would include freezing construction in West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements. He said Isaac Herzog's party would cooperate with international initiatives to return Israel's borders to the 1967 lines.