The meeting between Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the former's residence is reminiscent of a similar meeting held 21 years ago. Just a day or two after then-Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak hosted then-PA President Yasser Arafat in his home in Kochav Yair, the Second Intifada erupted.
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It may be that this time, things are slightly different. There is a low-level Intifada going on, and the meeting between Ganz and Abbas was aimed merely at bolstering Abbas' standing.
Beyond the additional economic benefits the defense minister is affording the Palestinians, the sit-down followed a highly-publicized meeting between US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Israel and the PA.
Gantz's actions reflect two dimensions of the diplomatic-political situation: the one being the domestic Israeli level, and never mind how much "ambassador of truth" Jerusalem Affairs and Housing and Construction Minister Ze'ev Elkin screams about the defense minister's actions. The other is strategic and mainly concerns the PA's relationship with Hamas.
The Palestinians define current US policy as "reining in the conflict" as opposed to attempting to resolve it. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Gantz, and Foreign Minister and Prime Minister-designate Yair Lapid are mortgaging the precious credit acquired under Opposition Leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They are wasting the large diplomatic capital acquired under the Likud leader's government. They are not creating new diplomatic straits, and one day, they will argue they no longer have the means to maintain their non-policy.
In his contacts with the Palestinians, Gantz has been inspired by the Americans. The PA is very concerned by Hamas and has come to terms with a situation in which "the subject of the end of the occupation" is not on the table. US President Joe Biden has made one phone call to Abbas. When Abbas was in New York, Biden refrained from meeting him. Suddenly, Biden is less enamored with the old man in Ramallah than his predecessor Donald Trump.
It is interesting to see just how irrelevant Bennett really is. He wanted to put bracelets on us at the entrance to the mall, but the public responded the same way Trump did when asked for his opinion on Bennett's predecessor by an Israeli reporter. A welfare and housing policy must be conducted for the Palestinians: Gantz does that. Bennett doesn't speak but just "reports." Yet Gantz's policy reflects a miserable situation. The Americans are concerned a Bennett-Lapid government will fall and Netanyahu may return to power. That is why they are avoiding any move, like opening a consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem, or pressure that could undermine the coalition. On the other hand, they want to maintain Abbas' regime, in particular against Hamas. What we have here, then, is the deterioration of Israel's standing to the point where the Americans are engaged in maintaining its government.
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