Palestinian Authority Restores Ties to Israel After One Day of Cut

Officials say one-day cut was just Abbas 'hint' at importance of ties

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced he was cutting all ties, including security cooperation, with both Israel and the US. The following day, everything was back to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Palestinian officials say that this was just a “hint” of Abbas’s most valuable card, that he can cut off security cooperation with Israel if things aren’t going the way the Palestinian Authority needs them to go.

Some are expressing doubts whether Abbas could actually do a permanent cut, even if he wanted to. Israel doesn’t view it as a credible threat at this point, but they continue to agitate the Palestinians, and may force Abbas to make such rash moves.

Severing ties is an implied aspect of Abbas’s threat to end the Oslo Accords. With Israel moving toward annexation and the Trump plan precluding a Palestinian state, Abbas could quickly find himself with no other options but to do this.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.