Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman tweeted about the possibility that the Palestinian Authority would be asked to take responsibility for the Gaza Strip after the war, calling it a "dangerous illusion."
"On August 15, 2005, the "Disengagement Plan" went into effect - a move in which all settlements and settlers from the Gaza Strip were evacuated into Israeli territory. The Palestinian Authority entered the Gaza Strip with the full backing of Israel and the United States and assumed responsibility for the ongoing management and security of the territory. Also, that year, [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas was elected for the first and last time to head the Palestinian Authority and was at the height of his power. Two years later, in 2007, the representatives of the Palestinian Authority in Fatah, those who were not thrown off the roofs by the Hamasniks who took over the Strip, fled to Israel for their lives," Liberman wrote.
In his opinion, "Anyone who claims that the Palestinian Authority should return to control Gaza and take political and security responsibility is talking nonsense and is disconnected from reality and the PA's capabilities. A tangible example of this can be seen in the West Bank in the territories 'controlled' by the Palestinian Authority. Without Israeli backing, Abbas and his government would not have survived even for a moment. It is clear to anyone capable of understanding that the dominant factors in the territory are Hamas terrorists, Jihad, and local gangs."
"Furthermore, Abbas is not a peace-seeking savior, nor is he a Palestinian Woodrow Wilson. This is a serial Holocaust denier who frequently accuses IDF soldiers of war crimes at the Hague Criminal Court - a person who engages in political terrorism every day and advocates for the right of return, which means the end of the State of Israel as a Jewish and Zionist state," Liberman added.
He concluded: "Therefore, the demands to return Abbas and the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip are a delusion and a dangerous error."