“Abu Mazen is a political corpse,” said Deputy Minister of the Interior and Knesset member Faina Kirshenbaum in an interview with Al-Monitor.

For more than 10 years, Kirshenbaum has served as the secretary-general of Yisrael Beiteinu party, and she is considered a confidante of party leader, former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. She wholeheartedly adopts Liberman’s political line regarding the conflict and particularly his position on Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen — which he has been voicing consistently in recent years: “He’s irrelevant.”

We met in her office at the Interior Ministry on Tuesday, June 25. The night before, rocket fire from Gaza toward the towns in southern Israel had resumed, and on June 27, US Secretary of State John Kerry was expected in Israel for another round of talks.

But Kirshenbaum isn’t waiting for him. Even now, it is clear to her that the rocket fire is related to the reports that negotiations would be getting back underway soon. “These are their internal issues. They’re letting Abu Mazen know that they’ll be calling the shots, that they have the power and he isn’t authorized to negotiate on their behalf.” Kirshenbaum identifies with Liberman’s reaction after the rocket fire; he said that Israel has no choice but to conquer Gaza. “As long as Hamas is in there and gaining strength, we don’t have anyone to talk to.”