US ambassador to Israel: If Abbas won’t negotiate, his successor will

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman seemed to threaten Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this week, saying that if Abbas refuses to negotiate, his successor will be more forthcoming.

“If Abu Mazen is not interested in negotiating, I am sure that someone else will want to,” Friedman told religious-Zionist newspaper Shevi’I.

“If Abbas creates a vacuum, I am convinced that someone else will fill it, and then we will move forward [with the peace process],” he continued.

Responding today, Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh said that the remarks constitute a “blatant interference in Palestinian affairs”, while another aide close to Abbas, Ahmed Majdalani, dismissed them as an “empty threat”.

Read: It couldn’t be clearer how out of touch with his people Abbas is

Friedman also discussed recent personal attacks on his role by Abbas, telling the paper that such statements “only make it more difficult for the United States to have serious talks with him… Calling me names will not improve the situation of the Palestinians”.

The Times of Israel also noted recent claims by a senior Palestinian official that the US is preparing for the day when there will be Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who “would not be able to reject the peace plan and would have to deal with it gradually”.