The Palestinian president on Wednesday defended his policy of security cooperation with Israel in a politically risky speech to senior Arab officials, even as Israeli forces escalated their most extensive West Bank crackdown in years in response to the apparent abduction of three Israeli teenagers.
President Mahmoud Abbas’ comments were quickly condemned at home and shined a light on one of his most controversial policies — working with the Israeli military to keep Hamas in check. The militant group, which has killed hundreds of Israelis, is accused of carrying out the kidnapping. Israel has not presented any firm evidence proving Hamas involvement, although the group has praised the kidnappings, but not claimed responsibility.
The three youths, Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship, who disappeared late Thursday while hitchhiking home from Jewish seminaries in the West Bank. Accusing Hamas of being behind the apparent abduction, Israel has launched a widespread crackdown on the group, arresting scores of members while conducting a feverish manhunt for the missing youths.
In a speech to Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia, Abbas condemned the kidnapping, saying it had caused heavy damage to the Palestinians and that his forces were helping search for the missing teens.
“We are still looking and searching to find out who carried out such an act,” Abbas said. “He who committed such an act wants to destroy us.”
Abbas said he hoped to rescue the teens “because these youths are human beings, and we want to protect human lives.” While accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of exploiting the crisis to inflict pain on the Palestinians, he also said the coordination with Israel is a Palestinian interest as well.
“We don’t want to go back to chaos and destruction, as we did in the second (Palestinian) uprising,” he told the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. “I say it openly and frankly. We will not go back to an uprising that will destroy us.”
His comments were remarkable because of his audience and because security coordination is widely unpopular among Palestinians. They also put additional strains on the new unity government that Abbas formed earlier this month with backing from Hamas.
The government was meant to end a rift stemming from Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip from Abbas seven years ago. But tensions remain, and Hamas is still in control of Gaza, while Abbas governs from the West Bank.
Abbas’ comments quickly drew condemnation from Hamas. “These comments are based on the Zionist narrative,” said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza.
In Washington, Abbas’ words won praise from the State Department. “We were encouraged by President Abbas’ strong statement to the Arab and Islamic foreign ministers today in Saudi Arabia,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
She said the U.S. has been in touch with both sides, urging restraint and continued security coordination.
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A sign of the security coordination in recent days has been the relative calm in the West Bank as Israeli troops entered Palestinian cities that are nominally under Palestinian self-rule control. The main area of the operation has been Hebron, the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank.
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