Two faces of Abbas - editorial

• Author: JPOST EDITORIAL
• Published date: 04 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

"We don't have to agree with one another, we just have to talk," Abbas told the Meretz delegation. He appeared to break new ground in discussions with Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej. Meretz faction head MK Michal Rozin also attended.

This meeting was one of several positive signals that have come not only from Abbas but also from the new Israeli government showing its openness to meet with the Palestinian leadership. The problem is that these meetings are generally Janus-faced. While Abbas has consistently made comments directed at Israel and the international community that appear moderate, he has continued to enable the incitement and reactionary views among Palestinians that harm peace.

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The Abbas doctrine is one that has been cemented in the decades since the Oslo Accords. It boils down to this: Talk peace while encouraging incitement among the Palestinian public. The theory presented to foreign diplomats and the media about why this has to be the case is that the Palestinian public won't accept leaders who "collaborate" or "normalize" relations with Israel. Therefore they must be raised to believe in the Right of Return, Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital and the destruction of Israel. Terrorists who murder civilians get rewarded financially by the Palestinian Authority. There is literally an incentive for terror. Palestinians who talk peace are ostracized and even threatened. The Palestinian academic Mohammed Dajani, for instance, was a target of incitement years go when he took his Palestinian students to visit Auschwitz.

On the one hand, Ramallah works well with Israel's security forces, mostly behind the scenes. Although terrorists get financial support, large terror networks generally do not operate successfully from Palestinian-controlled areas. That may be simple cynical calculus on Abbas' part. He doesn't want to be overthrown after decades in power and he doesn't want any kind of militant power center to form. So he manages the conflict carefully. He wants Palestinians to mostly stay out of the public square and not protest his endless rule. That is why critics are disappeared.

For Israel, this...