Netanyahu Chides PA's Mixed Messages
JERUSALEM, Israel -- On the sidelines of a celebration marking the end of the week-long Passover holiday on Monday (called Mimouna), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chided the Palestinian Authority over its mixed messages.
"Today we see the Palestinian Authority, which yesterday spoke about disbanding, talking with Hamas about unity. They should decide whether they want to disband or have unity," he said. "And when they want peace, they should let us know because we want a genuine peace."
On Sunday, the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported the P.A. was considering dissolving itself and turning over authority for the Palestinian Arab population in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) to Israel.
The Palestinian National Authority was created in 1994, following the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization on the White House lawn in 1993 with then President Bill Clinton.
The P.A. was originally set up as a five-year interim body to rule the Palestinian population in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, with its final status to be negotiated with Israel. The idea was that after five years Israel and the Palestinians would have made peace and some sort of a Palestinian state would have been established.
Twenty years later, which included a years-long Palestinian terror war against Israeli civilians known as the Second Intifada and the 2007 takeover of Gaza by Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian faction, that's still not the case.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said dissolving the P.A. could have "grave implications" and "is not in the interest of the Palestinians."
Meanwhile, Gaza-based Palestinians fired seven rockets on Israel Monday morning, causing some property damage but no injuries in the southern city of Sderot.
"And on our holiday today, our enemies fired missiles at our communities and our policy is clear -- to respond quickly and strongly," Netanyahu said of the IDF's response to the morning rocket barrage. "We strike at whoever comes to attack us. This is what we have done and this is what we will do."
Palestinian sources reported that two Hamas fighters were injured lightly in three successful airstrikes on the terror infrastructure in Gaza.
And last but not least, Netanyahu thanked everyone who helped keep Israelis safe over the week-long holiday.
"I would like to thank the police personnel, soldiers and volunteers, and all members of the security and rescue services, who guarded the millions of Israelis throughout Passover," Netanyahu said.
The Israeli Nature and Parks Authority and Keren Kayemet l'Yisrael (Jewish National Fund) estimated some 3.5 million Israelis -- half of the country's Jewish population -- filled national parks and recreation centers during the week.
Israel always boosts security on holidays. This year, Baruch Mizrachi, a 47-year-old father of five, was shot to death by an Arab terrorist as he drove his family to Passover Seder at his in laws home in Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of Hebron.
