Palestinian Authority Can’t be Allowed to Collapse, says Netanyahu

‘In the areas in which it succeeds in functioning, it does the work for us and we have not interest in it collapsing.’

By Ben Rappaport, United with Israel

Israel “needs the Palestinian Authority,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said during a recent Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, according to Kan News.

Asked by Knesset members about Israel’s relationship to the Palestinian Authority (PA), Netanyahu said, “We are preparing for the day after [Abbas].”

Abbas, 88, has served as chairman of the Palestinian Authority for 18 years, though the position was originally intended to carry only a four-year term. In the intervening years, he has canceled several attempted elections, most recently in 2021.

Earlier in July, Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that Abbas was set to undergo comprehensive examinations at the hospital, but doctors ultimately had to come to the presidential palace to treat him due to his weak condition.

“We need the Palestinian Authority. We cannot allow it to collapse. We also don’t want it to collapse. We are ready to help it financially,” Netanyahu said, according to Kan.

“We have an interest in the PA continuing to function. In the areas in which it succeeds in functioning, it does the work for us and we have not interest in it collapsing,” he added.

At the same time, Netanyahu expressed strong opposition to a “Palestinian state.”

“We must cut off their aspiration for a state,” he said.

A recent poll of Palestinian public opinion found that 80% of Palestinians are not satisfied with Abbas’ leadership.

Further, if elections were held today, the Hamas terror group would receive 34% of the vote, while Abbas’ Fatah party would receive only 31%, according to the poll.