Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has promised senior officials in Jewish Home that the US framework for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority will not be allowed to actualize, Ma'ariv reports Friday. "We made it clear that we will not stand by this [the US framework] and this was promised to us," a senior official told the daily. The promise was allegedly made during talks held between Likud and Jewish Home; the official explained that Jewish Home leader and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett has threatened to leave the coalition in the event that Netanyahu agrees to accept the interim agreement, which would see Israel give away land for a Palestinian state. Bennett told Israel Radio Thursday that Israel has been paying for decades for the US's policy mistakes in the Middle East - and that Israel should not have to pay any more for the bungling of a foreign body. “Washington insisted on instituting elections for the Palestinians, and they elected Hamas,” Bennett said. “Washington insisted that Israel withdraw from Gaza, and in return we got tens of thousands of rockets on southern Israel, after democratically elected Hamas took over Gaza.” Regarding the US framework, which not only gives away land but could also see NATO handle the security issues that may arise between Israel and a Palestinian state, Bennett draws the line. “We will never let anyone else be responsible for our security,” Bennett continued. “Only the IDF will defend Israelis. In recent weeks we have been told that if we make a deal with the Palestinians then prices will go down, but if we don't Israel will be isolated and forsaken . I would suggest that all these people making these threats think twice. Israelis are stronger than these threats, and no one will persuade us to destroy our national home with these threats.”
