Naftali Bennett
Naftali BennettFlash 90

The newly-inaugurated joint Hamas-Fatah Palestinian Authority government is nothing more than a gang of terrorists in suits, Jewish Home leader and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett said Monday.

“Twenty years after the Oslo Accords and nine years after the Gaza disengagement, our engagement with the Palestinian political agenda has fallen apart, and has hit the wall of reality,” Bennett said.

Earlier Monday, newly-installed PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah announced the formation of the government. New ministers were sworn in Monday afternoon, despite last minute tensions that threatened to scupper the entire process regarding the appointment of a Minister for Prisoner Affairs, which had been demanded by Hamas.

In a last-minute move, the two sides apparently reached a compromise by which the Ministry of Prisoners will not be cancelled. In the new deal, there will be no minister appointed to the Ministry; rather it will be subservient directly to the unity government Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, Yedioth Aharonoth said.

"They can call themselves 'ministers' if they want, but that won't change what they really are, said Bennett. “This is a unity government of terrorists in suits between Fatah and Hamas, which calls on Muslims to 'murder the Jews who hide behind the rocks and the trees (a reference from the Koran – ed.).' This is an illegitimate government, and as such the government unanimously voted not to recognize it nor to have any contact with it.”

“The time has come to stop being defensive in our policies,” Bennett added. “We need to do what is good for Israel. The plans for sovereignty in Area C that we have presented are a good counterbalance to the Palestinian refusal to make peace, and the support of the Left for that refusal. Time is not on our side, because each day we wait to annex territory is one in which Israelis are threatened,” he added.