Housing Minister Galant (L) and PA President Abbas
Photo: Hadas Parush/Flash 90, Reuters
Galant: Abbas pressuring Hamas to rap Israel
Housing Minister speaks about crisis in Fatah-Hamas relations following attempt on life of Palestinians PM Hamdallah, says Palestinian President Abbas 'about to exit stage with no accomplishments'; frustration at the fact, he adds, has led him to making stupid comments; on mass Gaza rally near border: 'There will be no invasion.'
Construction and Housing Minister Yoav Galant said in a Ynet studio interview Tuesday morning that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was "attempting to take advantage of circumstances to rap Israel through Hamas, by exerting pressures on Hamas," adding the Palestinian leader's actions stemmed from "a very problematic choice he faced, which we have to be prepared for both operatively-militarily and politically."
Galant's comments referred to President Abbas's Ramallah speech Monday in which he fingered Hamas for the "despicable and sinful act" of attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in Gaza in March.
Abbas also assailed US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who accused the Palestinian Authority of not denouncing terrorists who carried two attacks that claimed the life of a civilian and two soldiers over the weekend.
Housing Minister Galant (L) said PA President Abbas's actions were born of frustration (Photo: Hadas Parush/Flash 90, Reuters)
Galant stated, "Abbas is working out of deep seated frustration. He's about to step off the stage of history with nothing but a number of failures to his name, and no accomplishments. That frustrates him and, of course, leads to stupid comments."
"Abbas is the man responsible from cutting Gaza off from the West Bank in Palestinians' eyes," he added, "and is the man who brought about the complete deterioration of Palestinians, both in their world legitimacy and in their relations with the United States."
"The end result is the frustration he feels at his age and in his accomplishment-less condition. He just talks nonsense," the minister opined.
Galant further explained that in light of the IDF's efforts in the field and new technologies that allow locating tunnels, "Hamas should chart a new course. It is precisely this process that Abbas is attempting to harness in order to point it to a direction of stress, pressure and playing Hamas against Israel in order to create an awakening. I assume we'll operate wisely to prevent that from happening."
As for the mass rally planned by Hamas near the border for Nakba Day, Galant explained that "there's nothing to worry about," as "the IDF will know how to stop it.
"There will not be an invasion of thousands of people into Israel. It won't happen, because the IDF understands full well that it cannot be allowed to transpire, by any means necessary—firstly explaining to the Palestinians the price exacted for reaching certain points.
"I'm familiar with the situation, and we should therefore not ascribe heroic bravery to the incited masses. When they move forward, we'll use every means at our disposal to stop them and, when it comes down to it, anyone who incites, harms or is involved with terrorism will also pay the price."
