Washington – US Secretary of State John Kerry is exerting pressure on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas not to take any “fateful decisions” before the upcoming elections in Israel, Palestinian sources said Sunday.
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The PLO’s Central Council is scheduled to convene in Ramallah this week to discuss the Palestinians’ response to the Israeli government’s decision to withhold tax revenues belonging to the PA.
Some PLO officials have called for a series of “harsh” measures in response to the Israeli decision, including the suspension of security coordination and abrogating agreements with Israel. Other officials have urged Abbas to dissolve the PA and call for stepping up “popular resistance” against Israel.
On Friday, Kerry phoned Abbas and discussed with him the current crisis between the PA and Israel.
The sources told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Kerry pressured Abbas to refrain from taking any decision that could negatively impact efforts to revive the peace negotiations after the elections.
“Kerry phoned Abbas and urged him to calm the situation and avoid escalation,” the sources said. They added that Kerry expressed his opposition to the Israeli decision to withhold the tax funds and cut off electricity to Palestinian cities because of the PA’s debt to the Israel Electricity Company.
According to the sources, Kerry promised to put pressure on Israel to rescind its decisions. But in return, Kerry also demanded that the PLO Central Council refrain from taking any decision to cancel political, security and economic agreements with Israel, the sources said.
The sources said that Kerry wants Abbas to avoid making any decision until after the elections in Israel. “The Palestinian Authority is in danger of collapsing because of the severe financial crisis,” the sources noted.
Any defenders here? The implication is that right after the election, go ahead and take any measures against Israel. I do not find this protective of Israel at all. Is there anyone left who trusts Obama’s policies of the alliance with Israel? All I see is that he has made Israel into the enemy, not the friend. As far as I can grasp, that’s a really good reason for the Legislative branch of government to seek Netanyahu’s picture of the danger of Iran, as the Obama administration seems to be unreliable, with a severely conflicting sense of priority.