Fatah leaders warn that PA might break ties with Israel

The PA has thus far stopped short of suspending security coordination with Israel despite increased pressure from the Palestinian public and several Palestinian factions.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Updated: NOVEMBER 6, 2015 04:22
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the special meeting of Human Rights Council at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland October 28, 2015 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the special meeting of Human Rights Council at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland October 28, 2015
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Fatah leaders warned on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority could pull out of its security, political, and economic relationship with Israel.
At a meeting in Ramallah, they expressed support for the idea of “defining” these relations.
Their words were the latest in a series of statements that Fatah, the PLO and PA President Mahmoud Abbas have issued on the possibly of breaking ties with Israel.
An Israeli official said in response, “The security cooperation benefits both sides.
The Palestinians are threatening themselves.”
Last March, the Central Committee of Fatah recommended that the PA halt security coordination with Israel.
On Wednesday, the PLO Executive Committee, another key decision-making body in Ramallah, endorsed the recommendation.
On Thursday, the Fatah leaders, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas, also voiced support for the recommendation.
However, Palestinian sources said that the announcements by Fatah and the PLO do not mean that the PA leadership would immediately suspend security, political and economic ties with Israel. The sources explained that the announcements were designed to send a warning to Israel and the international community that the Palestinians would not continue to honor their commitments to the peace process as long as Israel fails to do so.
Nabil Abu Rudaineh, spokesman for the PA presidency, said that Abbas is planning to visit a number of Arab counties next week to discuss the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and the recent Jordan-Israel deal to position surveillance cameras on the Temple Mount.
Rudaineh said that the PA leadership would continue to work toward strengthening “popular resistance and foiling the schemes of the Israeli government to kill the twostate solution.”
The Fatah leaders reiterated their opposition to any change of the status quo on the Temple Mount and accused Israel of perpetrating “war crimes such as summary executions and house demolitions.”
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.