Herzog: PM disconnecting from PA confirms the death of peace talks

Opposition lawmakers say measure will only damage country, while Bayit Yehudi politicians bolster Netanyahu’s actions.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Labor leader Isaac Herzog. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Labor leader Isaac Herzog.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The government’s decision to reduce ties with the Palestinian Authority will hurt Israel and its standing in the world, politicians on the Left said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is “giving fuel and matches to those who hate Israel,” opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Labor) said.
“It’s not clear what good will come from this unnecessary step of disconnecting from the Palestinian Authority,” he continued. “At the same time, it’s clear what damage will come of it. It will hurt our interests and those of businesses.”
Herzog posited that the prime minister is starting to disengage Israel from the world, an act rooted in frustration and desperation.
According to MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), “Netanyahu is confirming that he killed the diplomatic process after making the talks explode, when he didn’t give them a real chance in the first place. He’s destroying what’s left.”
Ceasing ties with the PA will mostly hurt Israel and is irresponsible and dangerous, Horowitz said.
“This brings up the question: What are [Yesh Atid chairman Yair] Lapid and [Hatnua leader Tzipi] Livni doing in a government that behaves this way,” Horowitz said.
Meanwhile, Knesset Finance Committee chairman Nissan Slomiansky (Bayit Yehudi) supported the move, saying the Palestinians need negotiations more than Israel does.
“It’s a serious mistake to think that we need to pay a price just so people will talk to us. I commend the prime minister for his decision to respond with determination to the Palestinian Authority’s provocations,” Slomiansky said.
Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked said “we need to cooperate with the Palestinians normally, but if they’re taking unilateral steps, we need to immediately put sanctions on them.
“We have a lot of options for how to sanction them, such as not giving them a license for another cellphone network, or making them pay their almost-billion shekel debt to the Electric Corporation or not letting them build in Area C. If they turn to the UN, let the UN solve their problems, not us.