The Israeli Knesset. Photo: Wiki Commons.

JNS.org – A group of 16 Members of Knesset (MKs) in Israel’s governing coalition, many from the Likud, on Sunday urged 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 MK Yariv Levin (Likud-Beiteinu), chairmain of the governing coalition, and MK Orit Struck (Habayit Hayehudi). It was also 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, according to Israel Hayom.

Meanwhile, Energy and Water Resources Minister Silvan Shalom (Likud-Beiteinu) said Sunday that “no one believes a permanent agreement can be reached in nine months,” the timetable the U.S. has set for the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations.