While in Saudi Arabia yesterday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued an unequivocal condemnation of the kidnapping of Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel. The Palestinian leader also expressed fear that the kidnappers wanted “to destroy [the PA].”
“These three boys are human beings like us, and they should be returned to their families,” the Palestinian leader told foreign ministers at an Organization of the Islamic Conference gathering in Saudi Arabia.
Abbas added that it was in the Palestinians’ interest to maintain close security coordination with the Israelis “in order to avoid a new intifada.”
Referring to Naftali Fraenkel, who holds dual American-Israeli citizenship, Abbas said, “”I told [the Americans] that it didn’t matter whether he is Israel or American. He’s a human being.”
An earlier condemnation of the kidnapping by Abbas was followed by a condemnation of Israel’s efforts to find the teenagers and their captors.
Abbas’s remarks yesterday shows that he is not alone among Fatah’s leaders. As a group Fatah’s leadership appears to be trying “to assure the Israelis and the international community that in fact they were engaged in trying to repair the situation,” as Hamas’s guilt has become more accepted. More specifically, Abbas may be positioning himself in contrast to the many Palestinian factions that support kidnapping of Israelis, in order to protect his own diplomatic standing. The deal Abbas conducted earlier this month for a Hamas-supported unity government left him open to charges that he was in violation of treaty obligations to disarm the terrorist group.
[Photo: The White House / YouTube ]