Our American friends do not let go of the bad idea of handing over the Gaza Strip to Abbas after the war, and of promoting the idea of a Palestinian state. Just a few days ago, the US president's envoy to the Middle East, Brett McGurk, and other senior American officials, met with the PA chairman and asked him to start preparing for the mission in Gaza. At the same time, another difficult conversation took place between the Americans and Netanyahu, who wants to fend off American pressure on this issue.
This American behavior is unwise, to say the least. Having become aware of the monstrous nature of Hamas, they find it difficult to decipher the true essence of the Palestinian Authority and its residents. Biden and his people ignore the fact that the PA has been educating for years – from kindergarten through high schools and universities – to a world without Israel and without a Jewish state; That textbooks and official Palestinian media glorify terrorism and glorify "martyrs," and that the Palestinian narrative in the West Bank, as well as the long-term goals of Hamas and the PA-PLO, are the same: the abolition and elimination of sovereign Jewish existence in the Land of Israel, within any borders.
Biden released footage of his conversation there with the two abductees who were released (archive)
The PA leadership and Fatah leadership have not only not condemned the massacre to this day. On the contrary, many there praised, praised, cheered and identified with him, while masses, in street demonstrations, wanted to "hand over their weapons to Hamas" so that they could use weapons against the Jews.
These are the "good recruits" that the U.S. seeks to do business with. Mahmoud Abbas himself, the "moderate," frequently awards families of "martyrs" and calls them "stars in the sky of the Palestinian struggle." He even clarified that even if he had only one penny left, he would have spent it on payments to the families of the "martyrs." His encounters with the families of the murderers, such as his meeting with Latifa Abu Hamid – the mother of six Hamas and Fatah terrorists who murdered or assisted in the murder of Jews – reflect this approach.
Continuing to fund families of terrorists, Mahmoud Abbas, photo: AP
The PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida has long defined Abu Hamid as a "heroine" who "nursed her sons with the milk of heroism, honor and pure nationalism, until they became knights like no other in the ways of resistance" (translation courtesy of MEMRI).
Mahmoud Abbas and his associates, like most of the PA leadership and most of his potential successors, faithfully reflect the mood of the Palestinian public in the West Bank and Gaza. Just over the weekend, Birzeit University published a survey of all Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The findings show that 59 per cent fully justify the 7 October massacre and 16 per cent support it "to some extent". In the West Bank, the rate of full support stands at 68%, compared to only 47% in Gaza (data via Amit Mandelbaum). With this public and its representatives, does the United States want to do business?
IDF forces activity in Rimal, Gaza's prestigious neighborhood, photo: IDF Spokesperson
Whether Netanyahu will deal with the American mistake on the "day after" issue, or whether it will be his successor, it is necessary to formulate a broad national consensus on two insights/understandings: First, Israel did not occupy Gaza in order to re-lay the foundations for a Hamas entity there, even if it is called by a different name. Second, the population of the West Bank and its leaders have not yet accepted the existence of a Jewish state, and still strive to harm it and its citizens. Behind these two understandings, all the components of the original coalition (64 MKs) can unite today, as well as MKs from Yesh Atid and from the state camp.
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