Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's accusations of Israeli "war crimes" at the 2014 UN General Assembly are a form of "political terrorism," Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) told Arutz Sheva on Sunday.
"When people say [Abbas] is our 'peace partner' and he says we're 'committing genocide,' it crosses a line," Ariel fumed. "What we're trying to say is that he is not our partner, and that there is a need to internalize that fact and understand it."
"Whomever believes in the 'right of [Palestinian] return' for the entire land of Israel, who publicly denies the Holocaust, is not the man we should call to conduct [peace] talks with," he continued. "Therefore, we should return to building [in Judea and Samaria], to helping a development boom, and doing all the normal things we have to do anyway. We need to get back into full swing."
Ariel also noted Abbas's hypocrisy, in smearing the IDF despite its preventing terrorism in the PA - and saving Abbas from a Hamas coup in his own jurisdiction just weeks ago.
"The IDF acts every night [to arrest terrorists in the PA], and Abbas should tell us 'thank you' a thousand times," Ariel said.
Minister Ariel further notes that all you can talk about with Abbas is, at most, the day-to-day management of the affairs of the Arab population in Judea and Samaria.
Otherwise, he said, "we cannot talk with anyone who denies our future and our right to exist," adding that to declare the region a "Palestinian state" would see rockets land on Ben-Gurion airport.
Ariel's interview was conducted shortly before Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is due to give the Israeli counter-argument at the UN, where the Prime Minister promised to refute the "lies" of Abbas in the name of all of Israel.
Ariel noted that he, personally, does not know the contents of Netanyahu's upcoming address, but estimates that "he will tell the simple truth: in the war [Op. Protective Edge in Gaza - ed.], we were forced to fight back and we responded. Arab citizens were killed due to the fact that they were hiding [as human shields] in hospitals, clinics, and schools."
As for the Palestinian leadership?
"All the blame falls on them," Ariel declared. "They must bear the consequences."