What's behind Israeli report claiming Abbas was KGB spy?
Israeli researchers have accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of having been a KGB agent, to wide criticism from Palestinians who see the claim as part of an Israeli smear campaign to get rid of Abbas.
It's no secret that Israeli-Palestinian relations have been marred by tension since mid-2014. At that time, the path toward a political solution reached an impasse and negotiations were suspended, leading to nonstop Israeli accusations that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is not a partner for peace and that he has been inciting violence against Israelis.
The latest Israeli allegation against Abbas came in a report broadcast by Israel’s Channel 1 on Sept. 7, claiming that Abbas was an agent for the Soviet KGB when he was a member of Fatah’s Central Committee in 1983. According to the report, Abbas’ code name was "Krotov," and he was recruited during his Ph.D. studies in Moscow and served as a KGB agent in Syria.
The Israeli allegation immediately sparked angry reactions from Palestinians, and many Palestinian officials protested. In a Sept. 8 statement to Agence France-Presse, presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said he considered the Israeli accusation part of an Israeli smear campaign against Abbas aimed at weakening the Palestinian position.
Amin Maqbul, a member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, told Al-Monitor, “The allegations against Abbas are part of an Israeli strategy that takes aim at his national principles. They are also part of a generalized Israeli smear campaign accusing Abbas of not being a partner for peace, unqualified to conduct negotiations with Israelis and not representative of all Palestinians. Surely this campaign against the president, which is based on misinformation, will not affect the Palestinian public's view of Abbas, but actually rally Palestinians behind him.”
