“I don’t wish for the collapse of the Palestinian Authority,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Nov. 30 in a conversation with journalists at the International Climate Conference in Paris. “Israel is trying to take steps to prevent this scenario from happening,” Netanyahu said, though he refused to go into detail as to what those “steps” might be. The prime minister then wagged an accusatory finger at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and used a quick meeting with US President Barack Obama to complain about Abbas. He even made a point of describing the meeting to the press, saying, “I told Obama, ‘Look at how Abbas is continuing with his incitement.’”
Based on what has happened on the ground since that conference, Netanyahu is hardly going out of his way to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority. According to one report in Israeli daily Haaretz on Jan. 5, Netanyahu convened two special Cabinet meetings to prepare for the inevitable “collapse of the PA.” At each of these meetings, security officials presented a series of steps that could prevent the PA’s collapse, including gestures to the Palestinians and providing shielding to jeeps used by Palestinian forces, to assist them in their efforts to fight terrorism. Nor was this the first time since October — when the current wave of terrorism started — that the Cabinet was presented with intelligence reports that Abbas is actually trying to control the terror attacks. This can be seen in the noticeable drop in official incitement against Israel, and the arrest of Hamas members suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.
