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Expert: PA ‘greatly disappointed’ with Israel election results

April 12, 2019 at 1:12 pm

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) during the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on 30 September, 2016 [Amos Ben Gershom/Reuters]

Yoni Ben Menachem, a senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, said the Palestinian Authority is “greatly disappointed” with the Israeli general elections results which could see Likud party leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, re-elected as prime minister.

Ben Menahem explained that PA chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, warned that if elected, Netanyahu would annex parts of the West Bank.

Ben Menahem quoted senior Fatah officials as saying that “the Palestinian Authority is powerless against any intention to annex the settlements and additional territories in the West Bank, and it does not have any diplomatic options to prevent it.”

According to the Israeli expert, Abbas opposes an armed intifada against Israel, but his strategy of “popular resistance through peaceful means” has been a resounding failure in the West Bank.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was confirmed as the winner of Israel’s general elections last night, when the Central Elections Committee published the completed tallies of Tuesday’s election. With the help of a number of right-wing parties Netanyahu is expected to lead the country for a fifth term.

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