The Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, a.k.a. puppet of Arafat, has resigned.
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, increasingly unpopular and worn out by a power struggle with Yasser Arafat (news - web sites), resigned Saturday. Within hours, Israel bombed a Gaza City building where top Hamas leaders were meeting, lightly wounding the group’s founder.(Hat tip: Little Green Footballs)Arafat told lawmakers in a meeting later Saturday that Abbas now heads a caretaker government, implying that he had accepted the resignation. However, some Palestinian officials said that for that acceptance to become formal, Arafat would have to send a letter to Abbas — which he had not done.
Arafat also said he had called meetings for Sunday with his Fatah (news - web sites) faction to begin discussions about the leadership crisis.
There are two potential outcomes of this development in my opinion.
1. A new Prime Minister takes control of the Palestinian Authority and actually dismantles the terrorist network.
2. A new Prime Minister takes control of the Palestinian Authority and does nothing to dismantle the terrorist network, actually supports terrorist regimes, and is under the control of Yasser Arafat. While Israel falls for the “cease-fire” ploy, the Palestinian authority works to take more land from Israel in conjunction with the terrorist groups building up their weapons arsenals for a continued round of suicide bombings.
As I said in my 8/22/03 post, Another Jersualem Post Editorial:
The Palestinian terrorists, along with the government that supports them, will not cease until Israel is destroyed. The “peace process” and the “cease-fire” (hudna) are merely the new means for terrorists to cash-in on bankrupt philosophy. The Palestinians are MUCH weaker militarily than the Israelis and would have absolutely no chance in a direct confrontation. So, they manipulate the bankrupt philosophy of the Israeli government and get the Israelis to gradually hand over what the terrorists want (the destruction of the state of Israel). They attack the Israelis just enough to get them to submit to negotiatons, then declare a “cease-fire” while Israel gives the terrorists land in return for the “promises” of the Palestinian government to stop the terrorist groups. The Palestinian government does nothing to stop the terrorist groups (and in fact supports them) in order to give these groups enough time to build up their weapons and their strength during the “cease-fire.” Once serious concessions have been made to the Palestinians, the attacks continue. The Israelis retaliate, but not nearly enough to stop the terrorists, and are QUICKLY condemned by the United States and the rest of the world. This pressure from the United States to submit to terrorism causes the Israelis to abandon their self-defense prematurely and committ to a new round of negotiations, and so, the cycle continues.
I believe that the most likely outcome of Abbas resigning is the continuation of this cycle. For once, I hope that I am wrong.
