The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee convened today to discuss the apparent upcoming replacement of Abu Mazen by Abu Ala. A very senior intelligence official said that Abu Ala is a protege of Arafat, and that he has no intention of fighting terrorism. He also said that Abu Mazen had no intentions of resigning last week, but decided to do so after he saw how he was pushed and gun-butted by Arafat supporters during their protest outside PA headquarters.
The official told the committee that Abu Ala is Arafat's right-hand man: "Abu Ala and Arafat are one, and Abu Ala has no intention of taking any steps without Arafat's permission... We are not aware of any intention of carrying out reforms in the Palestinian Authority." Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said that Israel will not negotiate with "Arafat yes-men."
Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reports that army sources say that Abu Ala is even more extreme than Arafat. Israel, however, which once again does not want to appear to be the recalcitrant side, is refraining from openly opposing his appointment.
Committee Chairman Yuval Shteinitz said, "We need not talk with Abu Ala. He will head an entity that supports terrorism and that has said it will do so in the future." He said that the entire Tunisian PLO leadership should be expelled, "in order to create a vacuum that will bring about new elections and a leadership that will act under the influence of these historic lessons."
Meretz party leader MK Yossi Sarid took a different approach, not surprisingly. He agreed that Abu Ala is an Arafat man, "and we should therefore stop playing make-believe, and should just talk directly with Arafat. I personally am disgusted by him, but he is the unchallenged leader [in the PA] and we can't change this."
Even Fatah senior Hussein A-Sheikh has no confidence in an Abu Ala government. He told Itim that Abu Ala will share the same fate as Abu Mazen, and that the PA's political crisis and general situation do not allow for the support of any government. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says that Israel and the U.S. made a great error in trying to marginalize Arafat, as he is the only one who can make concessions on behalf of the PA.