Zoabi: Israel trusts the PA's role in quashing future uprisings

Arab member in the Israeli Knesset Hanin Zoabi said on Saturday that Israel has been exerting utmost efforts to change the status quo regarding Al-Aqsa Mosque and sovereignty over it, the Palestinian newspaper Al-Resalah said.

Zoabi described these Israeli measures as the “most dangerous” recent measures to be taken against the holy city.

“Israel is carrying out violations against the holy city because it is assured that any Palestinian response will not match the Israeli crimes,” Zoabi said. She noted that all Israeli components, including the government, commit violations against the city.

About ongoing tensions in Jerusalem, Zoabi stressed that Israel is not worried about them because they are individual actions.

She added that Israel is certain that this would not become a third intifada for two reasons: Israel succeeded in separating Jerusalem from the West Bank; and it is trusts the role of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its security services which quash any developments that might lead to a new intifada.

“Israel thinks that Jerusalem cannot start a new intifada alone,” she said. “It is in need of the West Bank, where the PA suppresses any movement. This explains why the Israeli forces escalate violations in Jerusalem.”

Zoabi criticised the performance of the PA’s security services and called for them to release detainees and to stop chasing Facebook activists. “We want security to protect the people, not to be the arm of the Israeli occupation against them,” she said.

She also called for the PA President Mahmoud Abbas to sign Rome Statute in order to join the ICC. That, she said, paves the way for the PA to prosecute Israel for its crimes in the international courts.