Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee, said on Monday that Palestinian Arab organizations will implement national unity soon and that Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas will issue a decree on the issue despite US and Israeli threats.
"National unity" means the integration of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in PLO institutions and partnership with these organizations in the Palestinian leadership.
In an interview with Voice of Palestine radio, Erekat said that the United States and Israel are not interested in elections to Palestinian institutions, since such elections will renew the legitimacy of the leadership which opposes the “occupation”. As such, he claimed, the US and Israel are working against giving freedom to the Palestinian people and taking steps that are contrary to international law.
Erekat further said that the United States was continuing to implement the “Deal of the Century”, noting the comments of the US ambassador to Israel, which he said indicated the intention to authorize “settlements”.
He also claimed that the Israeli government, led by Binyamin Netanyahu, continues to implement its annexation plan despite claims made by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the Secretary General of the Arab League regarding the suspension of the plan.
The Israeli policy and the “Deal of the Century” are destroying the two-state solution and the Arab peace initiative, and this will lead to bloodshed and chaos in the region, warned Erekat.
