Herzog demands the suppression of Palestinian resistance

A meeting between Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog and PA President Mahmoud Abbas last Tuesday elicited further demands with regard to security coordination with Israel, despite the increase in Jewish settlers’ terror attacks against Palestinian civilians. Reportedly initiated by Abbas, according to Haaretz, the meeting was a recapitulation of Israeli demands upon the PA defined by two particular requests – a return to negotiations and the prohibition of a third intifada.

“The terror of recent days is liable to lead to a third intifada, and that must be prevented with everything at our disposal,” declared Herzog. “That means an uncompromising war against terror, and on this subject I’m even more extreme than [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu.”

As is usual for Israeli leaders, responsibility is pushed to one side and replaced by additional demands upon the Palestinians. The Haaretz article, which employs the same rhetoric as Herzog, attempts to equate the terrorism of the illegal settlers with legitimate resistance by the Palestinians to the military occupation and colonisation of their land. The latter is also deconstructed into “terrorist” acts in order to validate the irrational demands which, unfortunately, Abbas is likely to agree to.

Playing upon timeframes already stipulated in the repetitive draft resolutions submitted to the UN Security Council, Herzog stated that the resumption of “serious negotiations” between Israel and Palestinians would lead to a peace agreement being finalised within two years. Described as “diplomatic stagnation”, the current pause in negotiations can hardly be regarded as such. Diplomacy retains its position at the helm, aided by corruption and acquiescence which allows Israel to expand its settlements and proceed with its colonisation programme. Describing the situation as stagnant is only of benefit to Israel, as it manipulates rhetoric while PA leaders plead with the EU to issue condemnations against settlement construction, exposing the recurring cycle in which all three protagonists in the oppression of the indigenous population affirm their unity and, in the process, leave Palestinians with no other option but to articulate and implement their own resistance.

The perpetual complicity guaranteed to Israel by the PA has now been explicitly required to extend to suppressing Palestinian resistance against Jewish settler terrorism. If, as Herzog stated, terror directed against Palestinian civilians will culminate in a third intifada, responsibility for blocking another uprising lies with Israel. However, the state thrives upon excessive violence, hence there is a strong probability that Herzog, as well as Netanyahu, would welcome further attacks by settlers against Palestinian civilians in order to justify another colonial massacre in “retaliation” for legitimate resistance.

Furthermore, the purported peace agreement alluded to by Herzog is another succinct conspiracy against Palestinian liberation, as it’s always within the parameters of consolidating Israel’s security narrative. So far, Abbas has done nothing other than attempt to issue diluted threats to end security coordination with Israel, albeit in the context of a settler or IDF terror attack which resonates above other sanctioned atrocities. Herzog’s visit is nothing more than a manifestation of dominance and PA acquiescence. This makes resistance an increasingly necessary option for Palestinians to embrace, to combat diplomatic overtures and the pathetic acceptance by the PA leadership of additional conditions imposed by the Israeli occupation.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.