Ex-Israel official: EU concerned about stability of Abbas’ regime

The European Union is concerned about the situation in Palestine and the stability of President Mahmoud Abbas, a former Israeli official said yesterday, citing senior EU officials.

Veteran Israeli politician Uri Savir, a former manager of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote in article for Al-Monitor’s Israel Pulse page that Europe fears that the current situation in the Middle East could turn into a third Palestinian intifada.

Citing an anonymous senior EU official who is close to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, Savir wrote that the fate of Abbas’ regime is endangered by the opposition he is facing from deposed Fatah member Mohamed Dahlan “and from radical Fatah members in the West Bank” in addition to opposition from Hamas.

Savir added that Mogherini is maintaining direct contact with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, “but the US administration does not involve the EU in the ongoing efforts of its [Middle East] envoy Jason Greenblatt, except for periodic updates.”

Read: Palestinian efforts to oust ‘corrupt’ Abbas

The EU will reinforce its support for Abbas by maintaining dialogue with him and bolstering economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority, Savir added.

“With that, the EU official claimed that until the 2017 UN General Assembly meeting in September, Europe will not take any concrete initiative so it won’t be seen as disrupting the US efforts. Also, no joint European foreign policy decision will be made until after the September 24 German elections.”The EU is constantly communicating with Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League in its effort to support the “two-state solution” and avoid “grave deterioration into greater violence by the more radical and fundamentalist elements in Gaza and the West Bank, which could indeed endanger Abbas’ regime.”