BICOM

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas virulently denied that the body was in danger of collapse, despite reports that Israel is preparing for such an eventuality.

It was reported earlier this week by Haaretz that Israel’s diplomatic-security cabinet had held two lengthy meetings on the issue during the last ten days, in light of the ongoing violence, economic stagnation in the West Bank and political difficulties within the Palestinian leadership. According to two unnamed senior officials at the meeting, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We must prevent the Palestinian Authority from collapsing if possible, but at the same time, we must prepare in case it happens.”

According to Haaretz, the diplomatic-security cabinet has been discussing the PA’s possible dissolution since US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the region in November, which failed to produce any diplomatic progress.

Speaking yesterday, for the first time since rumours surfaced questioning his health last week, Abbas told an audience in Bethlehem marking the Orthodox Christmas celebrations, “I have heard a lot of talk in the past few days about the Authority, the destruction of the Authority, the collapse of the Authority.” The PA was established during the Oslo Peace Accords of the 1990s as a governing authority for the Palestinians prior to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Its’ security apparatus has routinely cooperated with Israeli security forces in order to maintain quiet in the West Bank.

Abbas described the PA as “an achievement of ours that we will never give up” and insisted “no one should dream of its collapse.” Asked what would happen after the PA, Abbas said, “There is no scenario of what will happen after the PA … because the PA will stay and any replacement must be a state.”

However, with the diplomatic process at a standstill and the PA’s legitimacy waning on the Palestinian street during the current violence, some commentators maintain that the PA and Abbas’ rule is under threat.