Bennett dismisses land swaps with Palestinians for peace, security
Bayit Yehudi leader says ongoing peace talks "have only brought us terror"; says won't accept deal with PA based on pre-1967 lines.
By JPOST.COM STAFF, TOVAH LAZAROFF, GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANEconomy Minister Naftali Bennett 370(photo credit: REUTERS)
Bayit Yehudi chairman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett dismissed on Tuesday the possibility of swapping land with the Palestinians for peace or security.The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations "have only brought us terror," Bennett said at an Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference.He further warned that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state under any future peace deal will lead to terror.The Palestinian children who were born at the time the 1993 Oslo accord was agreed upon are now 21 and have grown up on incitement, he said. "No piece of paper will change this."Bennett turned to recent international pressure on Israel to accept a diplomatic plan that that would not be optimal for Israel saying "we will never give up on Jerusalem. We won't accept a deal based on the sixty-seven lines."The Bayit Yehudi leader said his factions would not be part of a government that makes decisions to withdraw from land.Last week as Kerry carried out his latest round of shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem and Ramallah, Bennett said Bayit Yehudi would not remain in the coalition if it officially adopts peace proposals presented by US Secretary of State John Kerry, even if reservations are presented.Ahead of Kerry's visit, Bennett spoke multiple times last week with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Israel's negotiators in diplomatic talks with the Palestinians. He insisted on receiving as much information as possible about America's proposal immediately after Kerry meets with Netanyahu.
