‘The collapse of the PA is not a question of if but when,’ says immigration absorption minister, claiming ‘most of the candidates to succeed Abbas are not “electable” and would not defeat Hamas in elections.’
Minister of Immigration Absorption Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) asserted on Monday that the days of the Palestinian Authority, as well as the Oslo Accords, are numbered.
“There’s no point in continuing this artificial resuscitation of the PA, and we should prepare a proper tombstone for the grave, as well as for the Oslo Accords. The PA was born with Mahmoud Abbas, who initiated and pushed Oslo, and the PA will disappear with Abbas when he goes,” Elkin said.
The minister warned that Israel needs to prepare for the eventuality of the PA’s collapse, saying “we must stop these fruitless discussions which debate whether or not it will be good for Israel. The PA will collapse whether we want it to or not – the train has already left the station. I’m sorry to say that at the moment, it seems that we have yet to internalize the new situation, and we aren’t preparing for it properly.”
Elkin added that the international community “must stop attempting to strengthen the PA, because all it amounts to is artificial life support which will blow up in our faces. It is true that there are several scenarios, but the most likely scenario in my opinion is anarchy which stems from the lack of an apparent successor to Mahmoud Abbas, the unwillingness to hold elections for the next head of the PA, and the excess of both legal and illegal weapons present in PA territory.”
Elkin argued that “In order to fight the current wave of terror, we have to treat it with antibiotics, not acetaminophen. We have to understand that today’s terror comes from 23 years of abandonment, since the Oslo Agreement. Therefore, we have to get to the root of the problem, which is incitement in textbooks, in the media, and in sermons in mosques. At the same time, there is a need to prepare defensively and understand the new terrain. The source of authority is not hierarchical or institutional anymore – there is a need to recognize the new players who rose to power behind the scenes. If we know how to recognize who they are, we will be able to quietly control the situation. There is no doubt that this is a ticking time bomb which can be neutralized, but only if we wake up in time.”
As reported by Ynetnews