Tzipi Livni
Tzipi LivniFlash 90

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni "is a murderer threatening to kill" Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - so claims Muhammad Abu Saada, a lecturer in International Law at the University of Palestine in Gaza during an interview on official PA TV. 

Saada's wild accusations stem from a statement Livni made last Sunday, when she said that by refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Abbas is taking positions "that are unacceptable to us or to the rest of the world." She warned that if he "continues to adhere to these positions, he will pay the price." Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, immediately became incensed at the statement, calling Livni "not fit to be a negotiator."

The Arab lecturer took things a step further, saying in a broadcast last Thursday that Livni, during her service in Mossad in the 1980s, was "a maid in the home of an Iraqi nuclear scientist and she killed him with poison...Livni, in legal terminology, is a criminal. She has a criminal record. She is a murderer."

Video from the interview, translated by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), can be seen here:

Saada claimed Livni's "threat" on Abbas must be "taken seriously." He said the "price" Livni referred to Abbas paying may mean his life, to which the interviewer remarked "like what happened to the late (PA Chairman) Yasser Arafat," to which he responded "of course."

The conspiracy theories that Arafat was poisoned by Israel were already ruled out by consecutive investigations; nevertheless the PA rejected the possibility that Arafat was not murdered by Israel, and declared it would continue investigations.

Last Friday, PA Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat similarly claimed Israel might liquidate Abbas.

Saada's other theory as to what Livni's "threat" meant was "the possibility of destroying the foundations and rule of Palestine headed by the President, in the political sense."

Livni, who is representing Israel in the negotiations with the PA, has actively pushed Israel to concede to massive withdrawals, supporting US Secretary of State John Kerry's threats of an international boycott on Israel if the talks fail.

In January, Livni responded to research revealing the endemic incitement by the PA against Israel and Jews, calling it "very serious," but not a reason to stop talks. It remains to be seen if the incitement against her as a "murderer" will change her stance.