Bennett: Any agreement with the PA is useless as long as Hamas is not part of it

Israel’s Minister of Economy, Naftali Bennett, who heads the Bayit Yehudi party, said that there was no point in reaching any agreement with the Palestinian Authority as long as Hamas “are not partners in that agreement” and thus “not obligated to follow it.”

Bennet wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday, “suppose we came to an agreement with Abu Mazen. Suppose we expelled 150,000 Israelis from their homes… gave Judea, Samaria, the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley to the Palestinians… divided Jerusalem… gave up Israeli sovereignty in the City of David, the Mount of Olives and the Old City. Suppose that Abbas declares that this is the ‘end of conflict’ for him. In Gaza there are a million and a half Palestinians under Hamas’ rule that do not recognize Abu Mazen’s legitimacy, and certainly are not obligated to any agreement he might sign with Israel.”

“Hamas will say,” Bennett added, “That is fine you expelled Jews… gave away land… divided the land. We were not partners in that agreement and we are not obligated to follow it.”

“Then, once more, there will be rockets. This time in Tel Aviv,” Bennett wrote.

The Palestinian Authority has been engaged in US-sponsored negotiations with the Israeli government since mid-August. No agreement has been reached as of yet.