Amos Oz won't attend events hosted by Israeli embassies

JERUSALEM (AP) - Author Amos Oz, one of Israel's most celebrated writers, says he will no longer attend events hosted by Israeli embassies abroad, as a protest against what he says are extremist Israeli policies.

Oz said in comments published Friday in the Maariv newspaper that "in the wake of the growing extremism in the present government's policy in various areas, I informed my hosts that I prefer not to be invited to events held in my honor at Israeli embassies overseas."

Oz, whose work has been widely translated, is known to support the idea of a partition deal that would set up a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is ready to negotiate, but has promoted Jewish settlement expansion on war-won lands sought for a Palestinian state.