The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Friday blasted the Likud Party’s coalition agreement with the Otzma Yehudit Party.
The agreement stipulates, among other things, that Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir will hold the newly formed position of Minister of National Security (Minister of Public Security with expanded powers).
The PA’s “foreign ministry” said in response that the appointment of Ben Gvir would have a "potentially catastrophic impact on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
It warned in a statement that coalition agreements with "fascists like Ben Gvir and his supporters" could hinder the revival of peace talks.
"The ministry renewed its warning against the consequences of the agreements on the efforts to reach calm, especially since the armed militia of the settlers began to take on an organized nature in military formations - in light of their feeling that there is backing for this after the elections in Israel - which may encourage them to commit crimes against Palestinian citizens," the statement continued.
Last week, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesman for PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, condemned a coalition agreement between Netanyahu and Ben Gvir regarding the regulation of the young settlement, saying that "these agreements are in contradiction to all decisions of international legitimacy and international law."
"These understandings deepen the settlement, will lead to the taking over of additional Palestinian land and will harm any possibility of realizing peace and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the principle of the two-state solution in accordance with the decisions of international legitimacy," he added.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)