PA Chairman Abu Mazen has so far not taken any step in response to the sanctions imposed by Israel on the PA after he turned to the United Nations with a request that it turn to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for an opinion on the legality of the Israeli occupation, for now he is content with statements and condemnations.
The Palestinian opposition harshly criticizes the chairman of the Palestinian Authority and accuses him of being the executive contractor of the Israeli security establishment and of having succumbed to US pressure.
Senior PA officials reject outright the criticism of the Palestinian opposition factions and claim that the Palestinian leadership held a series of discussions on the question of how to respond to the sanctions imposed by Israel on the PA, but this is a complex issue and therefore PA chairman Abu Mazen adopts a cautious policy and examines carefully his steps.
Last week, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority hosted Jack Sullivan, the national security adviser of the Biden administration, at his office in Ramallah, and discussed with him the policy developments following the change of government in Israel.
He also warned that the Palestinian Authority may respond with countermeasures to the sanctions imposed by Israel. Officials in the Palestinian Authority claim that Sullivan asked him to wait until after the meeting between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House next month.
In their estimation, President Biden will put pressure on Netanyahu to cancel the sanctions imposed by his government on the Palestinian Authority.
Senior PA officials say that if the PA stops security coordination with Israel, this will seriously damage it and lead to its collapse.
Such a move could lead to an armed confrontation between the IDF forces and the Palestinian police in the West Bank, the IDF forces enter areas A in the West Bank every night to arrest wanted terrorists and this requires coordination with the PA so that its forces are not harmed during the IDF’s operations.
PA chairman Abu Mazen sees the establishment of the PA as the main national achievement of the Palestinians from the Oslo Accords and he will not give it up.
According to PA officials, the cessation of security coordination with Israel will harm the livelihood of tens of thousands of Palestinian workers who come to work in Israel every day, it will prevent Palestinians from receiving medical treatment in Israeli hospitals, and it will also harm the entry of Palestinian refugees into Israel and their travel abroad through border crossings.
In addition to this, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority fears the financial situation of the PA, which is in a serious financial crisis, it badly needs the tax money that Israel collects for it, even today the Palestinian Authority only pays partial salaries to its tens of thousands of officials who are the backbone of the Palestinian government.
The chairman of the PA fears the reactions of the international community if he implements the decisions of the Central Council of the PLO regarding the suspension of the Oslo Accords and the freezing of security coordination with Israel, he will be accused of taking unilateral steps and unnecessary escalation, Abu Mazen wants to remain in the moderate Arab camp and not join the axis of resistance led by Iran.
The collapse of the Palestinian Authority will create security chaos in the West Bank which might destabilize the situation in Egypt and Jordan, the disintegration of the Palestinian Authority will lead to the cessation of international financial aid to the Palestinian Authority from the US and Europe and financial institutions such as the World Bank.
The Bottom line is that the chairman of the Palestinian Authority does not want to step down from the Palestinian political stage and leave behind a legacy that he failed and brought about the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and severely harmed his people, Abu Mazen is in a catch and therefore is not in a hurry to make decisions that would endanger his rule.
