In interview with AP, Bayit Yehudi leader says 'Israel not going to give up more land' and urges Palestinian to lower expectations, saying all Israel can do is 'make their lives better.'

With the Israeli prime minister under fire internationally for his hard-line policies, a key partner of Benjamin Netanyahu is standing firmly behind him ahead of the March parliamentary elections - heralding what could be an even tougher stance toward the Palestinians if the two sit together in the next government.

Naftali Bennett, leader of the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party - a lynchpin of Israel's religious-nationalist right that takes an even tougher line toward the Palestinians than Netanyahu's Likud - told The Associated Press that the Palestinians should lower their expectations and forget about statehood.

"We are not going to give up more land. This approach has failed," says Bennett, who is angling to become defense minister as part of the next coalition government if Netanyahu prevails in the March 17 vote. "Now, if it means that the world will penalize us, that is unfair but so be it."