And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them: ‘If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you; but if ye be come to betray me to mine adversaries, seeing there is no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and give judgment.’ (1 Chronicles 13:18)

In an extensive pre-holiday interview, Israeli Industry Trade and Labor Minister, Naftali Bennett, expressed his anger over the ongoing peace process between the Jewish State and the Palestinian Authority. According to The Times of Israel, the Bayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) chairman stressed that with regard to its security interests, Israel cannot depend on other nations aside from itself.

“When you see everything that’s going on around us, I can’t even comprehend signing an agreement that’s based on international guarantees, UN or other, and to trust anyone that is not the IDF, which is the only one that can protect us,” Bennett said in an extensive interview with Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonoth, published Wednesday.

Bennett, who is a fierce adversary of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu, did add, however, that he believed the PM was acting with Israel’s best interest at heart. “It’s no secret that Netanyahu and I have a few disagreements. I completely disagree with him on the Palestinian issue. I opposed freeing prisoners, but I also see the systematic pressure being forced upon him, and I think he is handling things correctly.

“Not all is bad: Netanyahu has the capability to distinguish between essential issues from minor ones, and when he identifies the right issue, he deals with it,” Bennett said.

On the PA side, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top aid to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, called the current talks “pointless”, the Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday. “These negotiations are futile and won’t lead to any results,” Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio. “I don’t expect any progress at all unless there is huge and powerful American pressure, such as the one we are seeing from America to deal with the Syrian issue,” added Abed Rabbo, one of just two officials authorized by Abbas to discuss the talks.

An Israeli official in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the remarks, saying the two sides had agreed that only the United States should speak about the talks. “We are abiding by that agreement,” the official said

According to the US State Department, the Israeli and PA delegations have been meeting continuously since the resumption of the negotiations on July 29.

In a message marking the Jewish New Year, Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he wanted “real and enduring peace … not an agreement that we celebrate for two minutes and then collapses”.

“This must be anchored on recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and on our security. This is what ultimately is needed.”
Both Netanyahu and Abbas are due to meet Kerry separately in Europe in the coming week to discuss the negotiations.

In another New Years Eve speech on Tuesday night, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon vowed to the Jewish leadership of Judea and Samaria that the renewed Israeli Palestinian negotiations “are not dealing with the evacuation of [West Bank] settlements,” according to the Jerusalem Post.

“In the Middle East, we need to talk about interests and not signed agreements,” he said. He added that the settlements in Judea and Samaria were important to the home-front defense of the nation and therefore needed to be strengthened and developed.”