Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Israeli radio that the attack on Israeli settlers leaving five dead is “inhuman” and “immoral.” That condemnation is not nearly strong enough, as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu criticized Abbas for not making his position clear. For example, Abbas could have spoken directly to the Palestinians through their media outlets, but instead he chose to issue his condemnation to Israelis, albeit in Arabic.
While Netanyahu might disagree, Abbas’ verbal condemnation was strong enough. But that’s not the problem.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Abbas must back the condemnation with action — find the perpetrators, take preventive steps to thwart the foundation of terror, dismantle terror networks, unequivocally reject armed resistance, rewrite text books to omit anti-Israel falsities, and so on.
Abbas needs to back his rhetoric by prioritizing action and resources to prove that the PA rejects violence and the roots of extremism. Until that happens, Abbas’ condemnation has no teeth.
