Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the PLO, threatened that if Israel annexes the Biblical areas in Judea and Samaria he would respond by…going away, thereby dissolving the terrorist organization that has been killing Jews for the past 60 years.
The newly formed unity government joining political rivals Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu announced that they will annex Judea and Samaria, leading Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, to threaten that such a move would lead him to dissolve the Palestinian Authority.
Debka Files reported that Abbas called his government’s leaders for a meeting this week in Ramallah to discuss this decision. Though it seems self-destructive, Debka reported that dissolving the Palestinian government would “saddle Israel with the administration and care for all civic needs of two million Palestinian denizens of the territory – health, water, economy, jobs, etc.”
Netanyahu and Gantz, political rivals, agreed to form a unity government two weeks ago in which Netanyahu would remain prime minister for 18 months before handing over the position to Gantz for the remainder of a three-year term.
The agreement also stated that the new government would bring Donald Trump’s “vision for peace” to a government vote from 1 July. The plan gives Israel full military control over Judea and Samaria. This would hopefully prevent the region from being used as a base of terrorism, as Gaza has become since the IDF exited in 2005 and ethnically cleansed all Jews from what was once a thriving community.
The Netanyahu-Gantz deal stipulates that any Israeli action would need US backing, and must take into account Israel’s peace treaties with neighboring Jordan and Egypt.
The Palestinian Authority has already rejected Trump’s peace plan.
The European Union and several European states, including Germany, France and the United Kingdom made public statements saying that Israeli annexation of Judea and Samaria would endanger their relations with Israel.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said last week that the United States remains ready to recognize Israel’s annexation of territory in the West Bank, but expects Israel to continue negotiations with the Palestinians.
Abbas has threatened to dissolve the Palestinian Parliament several times in the past as a means to pressure Hamas into forming a unity government, most recently at the end of 2018, but these threats went unnoticed as the parliament, known as the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), ceased to function in 2007 when Abbas’ party split with Hamas. Both the PLC and the PA were formed in 1996 as a result of the Oslo Accords.
Abbas was elected his post in January 2005 and is currently in the 15th year of a four year term.
If Israel annexes Judea and Samaria and Abbas dissolves the PA government, it is unclear what the future of the PA will be. Abbas became the head of the Fatah Party, known in English as the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) when its founder, Yasser Arafat, died in 2004. Founded in 1959 as a terrorist organization dedicated to murdering Jews in Israel and around the world. The Oslo Accords transformed the PLO into a political party headed by Arafat in 1993.
Source: Israel in the News
