A senior US diplomat warned Israeli officials this week that the multiple crises facing the Palestinian Authority left it “like a dry forest waiting to catch fire”, Axios reported.
Hady Amr, deputy assistant secretary of Israeli and Palestinian affairs, visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories for meetings with officials from both sides, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
It came as Palestinians’ discontent with their leadership continues to soar over the killing of an outspoken political activist, and after Israel moved to withhold taxes collected on behalf of the PA to punish it for payments to the families of suspected Palestinian militants.
The People vs. #MahmoudAbbas: Are the #PalestinianAuthority’s Days Numbered? https://t.co/3U5qc9VRog via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/i4q42skvUb
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 16, 2021
After meeting PA President Abbas in Ramallah, Deputy Assistant Amr described never having seen the semi-autonomous government “in a worse situation”, according to three Israeli officials who later met with the US diplomat or were briefed on the meeting.
A combination of financial and political crises has left the semi-autonomous government, the product of an early 1990’s peace deal with Israel, in a predicament akin to a “dry forest waiting to catch on fire”, Amr allegedly said.
Embattled #Abbas Seeks #Erdogan’s Help to End Criticism of #PalestinianAuthority https://t.co/A6fl4WU9bC via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/9mqwyJxBeh
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 15, 2021
President Joe Biden’s so-called ‘point man’ for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Amr suggested steps Israel could take to help the Palestinian economy and the PA’s budget to improve the government’s standing.
The latest crisis in confidence over the PA’s leadership began after Abbas decided to indefinitely postpone the first Palestinian parliamentary election in over 15 years, a move widely seen as aimed at averting the sweeping gains projected for Hamas, the main rival to Abbas’ Fatah party.
(The New Arab, PC, Social Media)
