‘Palestinian Authority does the job for us’: Netanyahu

ByNews Desk- The Cradle 

The Israeli premier stressed that the PA 'cannot be allowed to collapse' and that Tel Aviv must continue to suppress Palestinians' desire for an independent state

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Knesset panel recently that Tel Aviv “cannot allow” the Palestinian Authority (PA) to collapse, stressing that the organization in control of the occupied West Bank “does the job for us,” according to Israel’s Kan news.

“We need the Palestinian Authority. We cannot allow it to collapse. We also do not want it to collapse. We are ready to help it financially. We have an interest in the PA continuing to work. Where it succeeds in operating, it does the job for us. And we have no interest in it falling,” Netanyahu reportedly told the Knesset’s foreign affairs and security committee during a closed-door meeting.

Netanyahu also stressed that Palestinians’ “ambition for a state must be suppressed.”

Concerns have been growing among Israeli leaders about the health of PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, 87, who has yet to name a successor and whose popularity has plummeted in recent years.

Abbas has controlled the PA and its ruling party, Fatah, since the death of iconic leader Yasser Arafat. In January 2005, he won the election to succeed Arafat with over 60 percent of the vote. Though he was elected to a four-year term, he has remained in office ever since as elections for his replacement are repeatedly put off.

While Abbas recently concluded a trip to China, earlier this month, Lebanese daily Al Akhbar reported that his health is deteriorating and he may not be able to fulfill his duties as PA leader.

The PA has long maintained deep security ties with the Israeli army and intelligence agencies to suppress West Bank resistance while brutally repressing critics.

Recent polls show that Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank increasingly support Gaza-based resistance factions like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

West Bank factions such as the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Lions’ Den include many ex-PA members and relatives of PA officials.

Netanyahu’s comments coincide with a marked spike in violence in the West Bank. Israeli settlers have been conducting daily pogroms of West Bank villages, burning homes, crops, and vehicles.

The violent raids come in response to multiple successful operations targeting Israeli troops and settlers conducted by armed factions linked to the PIJ. These groups have also fought against army incursions in the flashpoint cities of Jenin and Nablus.