Turkish President Erdogan, satisfied with the full normalization with Israel that serves his regional and personal goals to strengthen his rule, decided to balance his policy and invited PA Chairman Abu Mazen to Ankara. Erdogan dances at two Palestinian weddings, since in Istanbul he is hosting the leader Hamas Ismail Haniyeh who moved to live there permanently together with his family members who left the Gaza Strip.
Abu Mazen arrived in Ankara this week a few days after the international storm he caused when on German soil he denied the Holocaust and accused Israel of “committing 50 Holocausts” against the Palestinian people.
Abu Mazen is satisfied with the invitation that came from Erdogan, after the international storm he caused in Germany, and he sees it as Turkey’s public support for the cause of the Palestinian problem.
Abu Mazen’s Turkish invitation to visit is a clear signal to the Palestinian Authority that Turkey’s re-normalization with Israel will not come at the expense of the Palestinians and does not mean a Turkish withdrawal from supporting the Palestinians.
His visit to Turkey also fits well with the political campaign he began in preparation for the UN General Assembly next month in which he will deliver a speech and demand full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations.
At a press conference with President Erdogan, Abu Mazen said that the Palestinian Authority is working to obtain the status of a full member state in the United Nations.
“We are asking for the support of the member states in the General Assembly and the Security Council, and also we want the UN Secretary-General to invite the parties to an international conference” said the PA chairman.
The Palestinians today have the status of an observer state in the UN, in 2019 Israel succeeded in blocking their attempt to obtain the status of a member state in the UN and having the right of voting.
The Israeli position is that the Palestinian Authority does not meet the essential and primary conditions of permanent membership in the United Nations due to its clear policy of paying salaries to terrorists on a monthly basis and the public incitement campaign it leads against Israel in textbooks and on social media.
PA Chairman Abu Mazen also asked President Erdogan to support his initiative in the UN to obtain full membership for the state of Palestine.
Senior officials in the Palestinian Authority say that Abu Mazen raised the issue with President Biden during his last visit to Bethlehem.
Abu Mazen told him that if he really supports the two-state solution, it is appropriate that the United States not oppose the Palestinian initiative in the UN to receive full membership as a state and not veto her request in the Security Council.
President Biden listened and did not answer.
The assessment in Israel is that the chairman of the Palestinian Authority will have difficulty promoting this idea again even though he follows the policy of one who has nothing to lose for several reasons.
A. The incident in Germany will probably make it difficult for the chairman of the Palestinian Authority to obtain the support of several countries in view of the Israeli-German campaign against him following his denial of the Holocaust.
B. Israel is in an election period until the beginning of November and many countries would prefer to wait for the election results before agreeing to the move.
C. The American administration opposes unilateral steps by Israel or the Palestinians and the president is currently busy with the mid-term congressional elections in November.
The Palestinian Authority has a majority in the UN General Assembly, but the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority will have difficulty crossing the barrier of the Security Council where the US can veto any proposed resolution that it does not like.
Abu Mazen is again expected to return to the starting point and will have to wait patiently for the results of the elections in Israel.
Yoni Ben Menachem
Senior Middle East Analyst
