The Palestinian Authority really isn't cooperating with Israel on finding three kidnapped Israeli teens – or on anything else, according to Rami Hamdallah, the PA's Prime Minister. Appointed last month, Hamdallah was a compromise candidate agreed to by Fatah and Hamas to head the PA's new government.
There is no security cooperation between Israel and the PA, he claimed – just security “coordination,” which he defines as joint activities “to ensure the well-being and daily activities of Palestinians.” The PA is certainly not helping the IDF in the search for kidnapped Israeli teens Eyal Yifrah (19), Naftali Frenkel (16), and Gilad Sha'ar (16), he stressed.
In his initial comments on the kidnappings last week, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu criticized the PA for entering into a unity government with Hamas, saying that the kidnapping was a direct result of the unity deal. However, the Prime Minister backtracked after criticism in the Israeli media that that said he was “unappreciative” of the work PA security forces were doing in aiding the IDF in the search for the teens.
Last week, Hamas-Fatah unity government Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki accused Israel of not only conducting an "exaggerated" and "political" search for three teens kidnapped by Hamas terrorists last Thursday, but also of fabricating the abduction itself.
"He (Netanyahu) cannot keep blaming one side without showing evidence," he said. "When you go to court if you don't show evidence you lose your case," said Malki. "If Netanyahu has any evidence, he has to put it on the table."
Malki's comments echo those made by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's spokesperson Farhan Haq on Tuesday, stating the UN has no "concrete" evidence that the kidnapping "actually" occurred.