Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the country must prepare for the possibility that the Palestinian Authority will collapse.
“We must prevent the Palestinian Authority from collapsing if possible, but at the same time, we must prepare in case it happens, ” Netanyahu told the diplomatic-security cabinet, according to two senior officials briefed on the meeting.
Fears of the Palestinian Authority collapsing have been growing ever since US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the region in November. Kerry warned that the situation with the Palestinian leadership was worrying, and his talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas focused on how to prevent the Palestinian Authority from collapsing.
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A breakdown in dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians and the current wave of terror attacks that shows no sign of letting up have further complicated matters.
According to Israeli daily Ha’aretz, a senior Israeli official said the discussions about a possible collapse of the Palestinian Authority were sparked by both written and oral opinions warning of this possibility that were given to the government by the defense establishment over the last two months.
The PA is liable “to collapse on Israel” if this were to happen, according to the source, and this would mean that Israel would be stuck with responsibility for both security and civilian affairs in areas now controlled by the PA.
