“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.

Based on this logic, if Abbas has been making real attempts to put a stop to the current wave of terrorism, if the level of incitement has been reduced and if security cooperation between Israel and the PA is good — as senior members of the defense establishment still claim — why is Netanyahu doing nothing to stop the PA from collapsing? While he is not actually encouraging its collapse, Netanyahu is standing to the side and letting whatever happens happen, as one Cabinet member described the situation in a conversation with Al-Monitor.

Netanyahu’s actions seem to indicate that he actually does want the PA to collapse, since this could serve him as a bargaining chip with the international community, which blames Israel for the current diplomatic stalemate. The collapse of the PA would finally put an end to the process that began with the Oslo Accord in 1993. It would usher in an new era for Israel and the Palestinians — one in which the very idea of a two-state solution has no basis in reality. The Palestinians would go on living their lives in some kind of autonomous entity, while Israel would control all of the territory, at least in terms of security.