It came as no surprise to Israel's political and security establishments when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas threatened on Thursday night to cancel the Palestinian legislative elections scheduled for May 22 over Israel's refusal to allow east Jerusalem Palestinians to vote in them.
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Israel was already working under the assumption that Abbas would use Israel's lack of response to his request that Palestinian residents in the east of the capital be allowed to participate in the elections as a pretext to cancel them. However, it appeared that Abbas had attempted to soften his criticism of Israel by claiming that the government had not responded to his request on the matter because there was no government in place that could do so.
"European Union representatives confirmed to us that that Israeli side is not allowing elections to be held in east Jerusalem. The Europeans said there is no use, and the Israelis will never allow elections. Our true response to Israel's refusal is that no one will laugh at us. This is idle chatter that will not work with us," Abbas said Thursday.
"We sent the Palestinian foreign minister to Europe, and we said we are waiting for an answer from the Israelis on the holding of elections in east Jerusalem. We issued presidential decrees, and we waited for a response to holding them [the elections] in Jerusalem, and we got no answer," he continued.
Abbas also accused Israel of attacking political activists in east Jerusalem and preventing them from campaigning there.
"These events that the entire world saw showed that our great people can take on the occupation forces and its intentions of occupation. The world saw the violence of the Israeli government and the settlers, those who called 'Death to Arabs.' I say 'no' to those who claim a unified Jerusalem is the Israeli capital," the PA leader declared.
Israel's security apparatus was waiting Thursday to gauge the Palestinian public's response to Abbas' announcement, and security officials are not ruling out a possibility that Hamas, which will be disappointed if the elections are cancelled, will renew the violent weekly riots at the Gaza border fence, or even regular rocket attacks against Israel. The IDF is also prepared for possible rioting in Judea and Samaria, as well as renewed lone-wolf terrorist attacks.
The security establishment is hoping for a negligible response from the Palestinian public, but the IDF's Southern and Central Commands are also ready for massive backlash, and expect this weekend to serve as a test case for security developments in the Palestinian arena.
Israel is hoping that the Palestinian front will remain relatively calm in light of the ongoing challenges presented by Hezbollah and Iran in the North. This was one of the reasons why, after terrorist factions in the Gaza Strip fired over 40 rockets at Israel last week, Israel's response was limited and mainly focused on restrictions to the Gaza fishing zone. On Thursday morning, Israel announced that those restrictions had been revoked.
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