Efforts to uproot Judea's and Samaria's Jews could lead to civil war in Israel.

So warned Israeli President Shimon Peres Wednesday when he became the first Israeli leader to address members of both houses of Parliament during a state visit to England.

In response to journalists' questions about the "fault" of Israeli "settlements" in the "occupied West Bank" Peres said the criticism should not be directed at Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.

He pointed out that when Israel pulled out of Gaza and destroyed two dozen Jewish towns, the rocket fire intensified on Israel.

"The blame for the ongoing friction in the area needs to be directed first and foremost at Hamas," he said.

Peres was not really coming to the defense of his rightist countrymen.

As a veteran left wing peace activist, he has been at least the figurehead of the movement that has played a major part in demonizing Israel's "settlers" - many of whom are the most patriotic and God-fearing of Israel's Jews.

Speaking before 1,000-strong audience at Oxford University earlier this week, Peres was pushed to respond to a group of anti-Israel protesters who called him a war criminal and said he was responsible for the "ethnic cleansing" of "Palestine."

"We have the right to stay alive. We don't need your permission," Peres responded with what observers described as calm dignity.

On Thursday the Queen bestowed an honorary knighthood on Peres.

It was "a public declaration of support," Peres said. "This is the first time an Israeli figure has been knighted, it was without a doubt a gesture of friendship."