JERUSALEM (AFP)---The parents of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on Monday brushed off a plea by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take a break from a protest vigil outside his residence for the Jewish New Year.   

Netanyahu and his wife Sara hosted the parents of Gilad Shalit for what the Prime Minister's office called an "update" on efforts being made to win their son's release after four years as a prisoner of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.   

But Noam Shalit and his wife Aviva told journalists after the two-hour meeting that Netanyahu and negotiator Hagai Hadas had nothing new to tell them.   

"Nothing has changed," Shalit said. "There are no negotiations with Hamas, there is no pressure being applied."   

Gilad Shalit, who has dual Israeli and French citizenship, was snatched by Hamas and other Palestinian groups in a deadly cross-border raid into Israel in June 2006.   

Since the fourth anniversary of Shalit's capture his parents have been leading a sit-in opposite the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem demanding that the government take action and pledging to remain until their son is free.   

"We suggest that in order to make it easier on yourselves, that you spend the holiday at home in order to garner strength and return here afterwards," a statement from Netanyahu's office quoted him as telling the couple.   

"Regrettably, we are not in a position to allow ourselves to take a break from our struggle or our presence here opposite the prime minister's residence," Noam Shalit told army radio.