Abbas cancelled elections to serve Israel’s interests, says Israel analyst

Postposing the general Palestinian elections was not a national endeavour, but proof that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is closer to Israel than to the Palestinians, a prominent Israeli writer asserted on Saturday.

Writing for Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israeli journalist Amira Hass indicated that postponing the elections proves that Abbas is closer to Israel’s interests than to his own people.

“Parliamentary elections are bad for the president and the unelected officials who run the Palestinian Authority,” Hass wrote, noting that Abbas and his Fatah associates: “Sanctify the fake status quo (security cooperation with Israel) to control the West Bank’s enclaves.”

Hass said that Abbas listens to the advice of his associates who: “Are more loyal to Israel’s interests to preserve the status quo and prevent any shocks or changes.”

Abbas’s aides suggested that Israel’s rejection of the elections is superior to the stance of their people who were anxious to take part in the democratic process.

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She pointed out that the status quo is continuously changing and not in favour of the Palestinian interests, but the interests of Israel’s control of their homes and lands.

The “fake” status quo enables Fatah to control the economic, administrative, and political enclaves of the West Bank, as well as allowing unelected officials and Abbas to impose their control through appointing those loyal to them.

According to Hass, loyalty to security cooperation maintains certain stability in the area translated in the form of grants by the international community.

This stability, she explains, which is being enforced at the expense of the Palestinians and their rights, is important for many countries that offer aid to the PA, such as the US and European Union countries.

Concluding her article, Hass conveys that the silence of senior Fatah and PA officials, who have always glorified popular resistance, reveals their hypocrisy, highlighting their praise for popular resistance.

The postponement of the elections has proven that Fatah’s leadership is not interested in popular resistance and, surely, not in the people who adopt it.