Israel tells Abbas, "We will topple you if you go to the Hague after the UN"

Israel has threatened to topple the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas if he gets non-member status at the UN and then challenges the Zionist state at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

The Gaza Now network quoted the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth as saying that the Israeli government is not yet decided on how it would deal with the Palestinian state in the event that the UN General Assembly votes yes on Thursday to accept Palestine as a “non-member observer state”.

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According to the newspaper, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman wants Israel to work on toppling Abbas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya’alon all say that Israel’s response should be more calculated. Abbas, they say, should be judged by his actions after the UN vote.

The newspaper reported that “moderate” Israeli politicians believe that “only if the Palestinian president files suits against Israel in the International Criminal Court in the Hague, should Israel perceive him as a hostile entity and work towards taking down his government.”

“Those behind this approach” include Netanyahu, Barak and Ya’alon, the paper’s English language website, Ynet, added. “Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz spoke out in favour of freezing funds to the Palestinian Authority in case the UN bid is approved.”