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Rejectionist Israeli government becomes Palestinian asset

In face of Israel's new right-wing government, the Palestinian Authority is planning a diplomatic offensive to reconquer the interest of the international community.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) shakes hands with former U.S. president Jimmy Carter (C) and former prime minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland during their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah May 2, 2015. REUTERS/Abbas Momani/Pool  - RTX1B7U7
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The Palestinian leadership follows with disdain and frustration the establishment of the new Israeli government: “With the outgoing government we thought it could not get any worse, but it seems that we were wrong,” a senior official in the entourage of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Al-Monitor. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did say that the advantage of the extremist nature of the Israeli government to-be is that now the Palestinian statehood issue would be put to the test, without international demands for incremental progress. “It’s a make-it-or-break-it time,” he said.

The Palestinian leadership, according to this source, is planning at the very outset of the new government to put a policy strategy in place to try to convince the international community to deal with the Palestinian issue again, despite the focus on the Iran negotiations.

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