MK Motti Yogev (Bayit Yehudi) has written a warning letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, calling on him to “wake up” to the reality of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ support for terrorism – before it is too late.
Yogev’s letter came as Israeli leaders plan to release more terrorists, as part of an ongoing raft of "goodwill gestures" by the Israeli government to the Palestinian Authority. Abbas has strongly pushed for all terrorists in Israeli prisons to be freed.
Abbas’ concern for terrorists is a red flag, Yogev warned. “Is Abu Mazen [Abbas] a peace partner? Or perhaps an enemy in a time of war?” he asked.
Yogev, who heads the Judea and Samaria Affairs subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, warned that material that has reached the committee proves that PA officials are “encouraging terrorism.” Terrorism is praised in the official PA school system, at cultural events, in the media and by religious leaders, he said.
“The incitement in the Palestinian Authority reflects a deep unwillingness to recognize the state of Israel as a Jewish state, or to see us as legitimate at all,” he warned.
The hate expressed by PA leaders should make Israel think again about agreeing to the creation of a PA-led Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, he urged. “Do we want to give parts of our homeland to those who encourage our destruction? To give them control of parts of the land of Israel, which will serve as the front lines of a continued campaign to destroy us and conquer our land to the sea?”
The PA is waging a battle by stages, he warned. “The first stage is negotiations to reach the ’67 lines; the second stage is fighting to the sea,” he said.
“There are more reasons for concern than hope in the ‘two states for two peoples’ concept,” he declared. “This is a concept that has become a mystic faith, detached from reality and dangerous to Israel’s security.”
“What else will it take to open the nation of Israel’s eyes, and to speak the truth?” he asked.
He urged Netanyahu to ignore pressure from the international community to go along with Abbas’ demands for terrorist release. “We’re under pressure from the United States – a country that would never release those who murdered its citizens,” he said.
“All this while the Shin Bet (General Security Services) statistics show that terrorism in Judea and Samaria, and incitement against us in the Palestinian Authority, have risen sharply,” he added.
Yogev's letter comes days after a senior Palestinian Authority diplomat boasted that the PA's own security forces were instrumental in carrying out the wave of deadly terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians during the "Second Intifada".