Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was unimpressed by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s remarks on Wednesday against the terrorists who kidnapped three Israeli teens, saying Abbas will be judged by actions and not by words.
Abbas accused the terrorists who kidnapped the three of trying to "destroy us," meaning the PA.
He defended the cooperation between PA security forces and the IDF in the operation, saying "the kidnapped are human beings like us."
Responding to the remarks, the Prime Minister’s Office said that if Abbas was truly sincere about what he said, he would cancel the unity pact he signed with Hamas.
"Abbas’s words will be judged by the Palestinian efforts to bring the abducted boys home safely, and the real test is the cancellation of the agreement with Hamas," said the Prime Minister’s Office.
Earlier this week, Abbas condemned the kidnapping, four days after it occurred, but in the same statement also condemned the IDF Operation “Brother's Keeper” aimed at rescuing the youths and cleaning out the Hamas terror infrastructure in Judea and Samaria.
Netanyahu telephoned Abbas shortly after the statement was released, in the first telephone conversation between the two in months, telling him, "I expect you to help in the return of the kidnapped youths and the capture of the kidnappers."
On Wednesday, Hamas condemned Abbas’s statement on the kidnapping. The group’s spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said the comments “are unjustified, harmful to Palestinian reconciliation...and a psychological blow to the thousands of Palestinian prisoners suffering a slow death in the occupation's jails.”