Let Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismantle the Palestinian Authority, said Economy Minister and Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett Sunday after a Yedioth Ahronoth revealed Abbas was considering walking away not only from the negotiations table, but from self-rule and the two-state solution as a premise for peace.
"Abu Mazen encourages terror against Israel as the head of the Palestinian Authority, and then threatens that he'll quit his job," said Bennett, but "the people of Israel do not negotiate with the barrel of a gun pointed at their head."
Earlier in the day, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Palestinian sources confirmed that the government in Ramallah was considering the unprecedented move.
Senior sources in the IDF's Central Command, who recently met with the heads of the Palestinian security services, confirmed their West Bank counterparts were sincerely debating dismantling and disarming the PA's forces.
But Bennett, a popular right-wing politician, posted Ynet's report on his Facebook and claimed he does not fear such a scenario.
He further went on to detail the development of claims for the two-state solution as they have been sounded by peace proponents and the international community and then attempted to debunk them.
"The left used to say: Give away Judea and Samaria for peace. Instead it brought us war. So then they said: Give away Judea and Samaria for security. Instead it brought terrorism. Over 1,000 Israelis were killed in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem," Bennett wrote, referencing the Intifada.
The Bayit Yehudi leader then moved on to more recent arguments for peace, namely the demographic threat according to which Arab will eventually outnumber Jews in the case the West Bank and Israel-proper are merged. "Meanwhile the Jewish birthrate is now higher than the Arab birthrate," he claimed.
Referencing the threat of growing international isolation, Bennett's straw-man leftist said "Give away Judea and Samaria to avoid a 'political tsunami'. However, that political tsunami never came. "
Reaching the current threat to dismantle Palestinian self-rule, Bennett wrote: "Now they are saying: Give away Judea and Samaria, otherwise Abbas will go home. You know what? Let him go home."
Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Galon also commented on Abbas' threat, and called on Netanyahu "to heed (Abbas') words. Just like he petitioned to join UN organizations after the fourth wave of prisoners release was called off, he may return the keys to (to the PA to) Israel.
"Dismantling the PA will force Israel to create a civilian administration to control the population in the territories, expand the occupation, and open the door to international sanctions on Israel; it will turn Israel into an isolated vagabond on the world stage."