Threat to disband PNA displays desperation

Ramallah: On December 22, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to hand over the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to Israel during a meeting with the Fatah Advisory Council.

Observers speaking to Gulf News, however, believe this will never happen, but add that his comments were meant to deliver a tough message to Israel and the international community that Palestinians no longer have any options as Israel colony projects continue unabated.

“We will not be guards of Israel’s security and will never be a tool at Israel’s hand to implement its plans on the Palestinian Territories,” Abbas said.

Abbas told his Fatah Advisory Council that the entire world opposes colony construction and new colony plans announced by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were meant to punish Palestinians after they were upgraded from an observer entity to a non-member state in the United Nations.

Abbas said the controversial E-1 project to build colonies in and around Occupied East Jerusalem is “a red line and we will never allow it to happen.”

Options before Israel

“The Palestinians will not disband the PNA,” said Jamal Muhaisen, a member of the Fatah Central Committee. “The Israelis should make a choice of either halting their colony activities in Palestinian territories of the 1967 borderline or take over the entire government,” he told Gulf News. “We will not disband the PNA ourselves. If you do not want the PNA, then Israel should just take over control,” Muhaisen added.

“The entire world should be aware that the conditions in the Palestinian Territories have dramatically changed after the UN vote,” he said.

“The Palestinian leadership does not consider any option in line with disbanding the PNA, and this issue is strictly out of discussion,” he said.

Dr. Hanna Eisa, a Palestinian expert in international law, said that President Abbas will not disband the PNA in a unilateral method and will not address this issue unless he reaches a conclusion that the diplomatic process has truly reached a deadlock.

Meanwhile, Abbas has a lot on his plate with stalled peace negotiations, internal political division between Hamas and Fatah and the possibility of a third intifada which many observers believe could be on the horizon.