An impassioned public debate has been taking place recently in Israel regarding Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. This is a fascinating, vital debate, whose potential results could be disastrous. The adversaries stand on either side of the issue.

On the right, all those who have made Abbas out to be one of the most bitter enemies in history: the upper ranks of the political class in Israel, which includes all the right-wing ministers, such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, Minister of Economy and Trade Naftali Bennett, Minister of Intelligence Yuval Steinitz and, a little less so, Minister of Defense Moshe Ya’alon. 

All believe that Abbas is no partner, and that the violence that has overrun Israel in the last several months stems from his inspiration. Bennett takes it a step further and even calls Abbas a “terrorist.” The others don’t take it so far, but they put the blame on the Palestinian leader for the extreme incitement, local terrorism, the tension over the Temple Mount and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and many other evils.

On the other side are several politicians from the center-left. like Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid, but they are less important for this story. The other side is led by the Israeli security apparatus. Its members, it seems, have been fiercely defending Abbas and his rule in the West Bank. I reported here Nov. 13 about a senior Israeli officer stationed in Judea and Samaria, who told me in a confidential conversation that Abbas was the solution and not the problem. The officer detailed the consistent and persistent war against terrorism that Abbas' people are waging, the close intelligence and operational cooperation between the Palestinian security organizations and the IDF and Shin Bet, the arrest of many Hamas militants by the Palestinian Authority, and the simple fact that all this results in sparing the lives of many Israelis every month.