Coalition MKs plead with Netanyahu not to give land to PA

Energy and Water Resources Minister Silvan Shalom: "No one believes a permanent agreement can be reached in nine months" • Legal experts urge U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to make the Palestinians stop behavior detrimental behavior to peace talks.

Mati Tuchfeld, Gideon Allon, and Edna Adato

No one believes permanent peace can be made in in months, Energy and Water Resources Minister Silvan Shalom. | Photo credit: Yossi Zelliger

A group of 16 coalition MKs, many from the Likud, on Sunday pleaded with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to give up territory to the Palestinians. In a letter sent to the prime minister during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the MKs called on Netanyahu "not to return to the Oslo Accord template or cede any more parts of the homeland to the Palestinian Authority."

The letter was drafted by Coalition Chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud-Beytenu) and MK Orit Struck (Habayit Hayehudi), and was signed by deputy ministers Zeev Elkin, Tzipi Hotovely, Ofir Akunis, Eli Ben-Dahan and Avraham Wortzman.

"I will remain coalition chairman so long as we go down the right path of construction and settling throughout all of Israel," Levin said.

Meanwhile, Energy and Water Resources Minister Silvan Shalom [Likud-Beytenu] said on Sunday there is no way that the current round of negotiations, scheduled for nine months, will bring peace with the Palestinians. 

Speaking to Likud activists in Tel Aviv, Shalom said "no one believes a permanent agreement can be reached in nine months."

Shalom also spoke about his recently improved ties with Netnayahu after years of political and personal rows. "We have decided to set everything aside and move forward," he said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Klein also spoke at the event. "Netanyahu spoke before the Likud central committee 11 years ago and convinced it to vote against a two-state solution. Netanyahu said 'yes to self-government, no to a state.' His prophecy was fully realized."

Meanwhile, hundreds of legal experts from the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel urged U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to demand that the Palestinians exercise proper conduct in the peace talks.

In a letter sent to Kerry on Saturday, the legal experts called on him to enforce the rules and behavior stipulated and agreed upon in the preliminary negotiations, to have the Palestinians stop detrimental behavior, including economic sanctions, boycotts and acts of incitement.

In the letter, former Canadian Ambassador to Israel and head of the legal forum's international division, Alan Baker, as well as the forum's director Nachi Eyal, cited a series of examples that, according to them, show a "clear and severe lack of good faith on behalf of the Palestinian leadership."

"Since the start of the negotiations, we are actually witnessing an increase in boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) activity, officially sponsored, supported and encouraged by the same Palestinian leadership that is ostensibly negotiating with Israel with your support, encouragement and accompaniment.

"Following a concerted series of threats and pressures against the Netherlands government and the Dutch water purification company Royal Haskoning DHV, the company announced this week the termination of a contract with the Jerusalem Wastewater and Purification Enterprises Ltd.

"The termination of the contract has been heralded and celebrated in official press releases by the Palestinian Authority Minister and Head of the Palestinian Water Authority, Dr. Shaddad Attili , as well as by PLO Executive Committee Member Hannan Ashrawi, as a great political success against Israel."

The letter also noted famous musicians who were threatened by Palestinian bodies not to perform in Israel. By still working to harm Israel, the "Palestinian leadership is undermining the process, as well as undermining your [Kerry] own efforts to achieve progress in the negotiations."