PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has threatened to dismantle the PA (Palestinian Authority) and return control of PA areas back over to Israel. In response to his threat, the United States warned such radical actions would have dire consequences, including cuts in financial assistance to the PA. A US State Department official released a statement explaining how donor nations invested sizable sums in assisting the PA over recent years and dismantling the PA was not in anyone’s interest, and doing so would result in a harsh US response.
Abu Mazen revealed his plan in an interview in an Egyptian newspaper, explaining he would declare the PA “a government under occupation” in line with the Geneva Convention. Such a move would expose senior Israeli officials and military commanders to suits in international legal forums.
The PA’s Central Committee is set to meet later this week, at which time it will decide to accept the Abu Mazen plan or reject it. If it accepts the plan, the PA will return control over the lives of 2 million residents to Israel.
The daily Yediot Achronot quotes a senior unnamed official involved in talks with the PA explaining that unlike threats made by Abu Mazen in the past, this time the threat is perceived as most serious, explaining in the source’s words that the PA has lost its desire to move ahead, leading to a willingness to make an extreme move.
One official not being intimidated by Abu Mazen’s threat is Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who released a statement “If Abu Mazen wants to call it quits, we will not stop him”.
Opposition leader MK Yitzchak Herzog however does not see things as Bennett does, warning that such a move may have tragic consequences that include increased boycotts against Israel in the international community.
Yediot adds that in the Prime Minister’s Office, the threat is not being viewed as serious, citing one day they speak of dismantling and the following day statements of unity with Hamas are released.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
He isn’t necessarily as dumb as he sounds.
If Israel continues its anti-hareidi policy, it means that already a third of Israel’s citizens (within the pre-1967 borders, plus Jews in settlements) are anti-zionists, and due to higher birthrates that percentage is incerasingly. With hareidim and Arabs forming a non-zionist block, zionists will lose control of the State of Israel in the foreseeable future.
However, if the United Nations were to repeal the 1947 partition resolution (they passed it , they can repeal it), and demand a free election in the territory of the British Mandate, it seems quite likely that the Arabs would win quite comfortably, especially with hareidi support (and for hareidim, defeating conscription and regaining communal autonomy are the highest priority). Unless the zionists give up on their “jihad” against the hareidim, this is a good time for the Palestinians to be very clever and give up their hope for half a state and go for getting the whole of the country back (though the zionists will realize this and decide to stop persecuting the hareidim, but perhaps not).
Can someone please explain; if Abbas dismantles the PA wouldn’t it be going back to pre Oslo days when Israel was in charge of these areas.
2) I don’t get why the international community will be upset. Israel can’t allow a lawless a group of people in what will become their responsibility,