The Palestinian Authority (PA) is on the verge of collapse. Israeli security officials believe that barring drastic rescue measures, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will step down regardless of whether he quits of his own free will or is forced out by mass protests over the failure of funding-strapped institutions to carry out their tasks. Israel’s security agencies are convinced the collapse is only a matter of time as a result of Israel’s own doing and that of its friend, the United States.

The first responsible for the possible collapse of the PA is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The 1994 Paris Protocol, which regulates economic ties between Israel and the PA, stipulates that Israel would collect on behalf of the PA tax revenues on imported goods and then transfer the money to the PA. But in February, under pressure from right-wing political parties and the upcoming April 9 elections, Netanyahu approved the enforcement of a 2018 law that allows Israel to deduct money from these tax revenues in the equivalent amount the PA pays the families of Palestinians accused of terrorist activities against Israel. That means a reduction of some 500 million shekels ($138 million) from the duties Israel collects for the PA.

In response, Abbas instructed the Palestinian Economics Ministry to refuse all the tax money Israel owes the PA, some 400 to 500 million shekels a month. Abbas apparently sought to bring things to a head with a deep crisis that would serve as a distress call to the international community. His move has been only partly effective.

The second reason for the possible collapse of the PA — the doing of the United States — has to do with President Donald Trump, whose administration is scheduled to unveil its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan after the month-long Ramadan fast, meaning within about a month. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians appear to know the full details of Trump’s so-called “deal of the century,” but according to The Washington Post, the blueprint is not based on a two-state solution to the conflict but only on recognition of autonomy rule in PA territory.