It is highly unusual for the Palestinian president to repeat a statement made by the prime minister, but that is what happened when President Mahmoud Abbas used his relatively new Twitter account to echo in Arabic a statement made in English by Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh to the New York Times.
In an interview with David M. Halbfinger published June 5, Shtayyeh explained that if Israel continues to withhold tax monies it collects on his government's behalf, it could necessitate laying off members of the Palestinian security services. Should that happen, Shtayyeh said, it will be a “very hot summer. At every level.”
