The meeting between Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was practically a non-event. Similar to Prime Minister Naftali Bennet's meeting with US President Joe Biden, the defense minister's historic meeting with the PA leader was only significant because it occurred. In Abbas' case, this matters very little. The meeting's main impact is on Israeli internal politics. All of Bennett's mouthpieces were snapped into action to mitigate the fallout. The meeting, based on reports, feels like it could have been held between two treasurers, not two senior Middle Eastern leaders.
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Abbas is the manager of the Palestinian Authority, and his legitimacy, lest we forget, exists only in the eyes of the Western diplomatic elites. As it pertains to the relevant constituency, the Palestinians, his legitimacy is utterly lacking. His attempt several months ago to rehabilitate the legal justification for his thieving dictatorship fell flat after the elections he called for were canceled – per his request.
That move, as we recall, was one of the triggers leading to Operation Guardian of the Walls against Hamas in Gaza. In that campaign, Hamas imposed its will on the Palestinians, and even worse – on the Arabs of Israel. It seems that Abbas' current impact on Israeli politics is greater than his impact on Palestinian politics. He's supported by at least two political parties– Meretz and Labor – which are now insinuating that Gantz's meeting with Abbas could be a harbinger to peace talks. It's safe to assume that Foreign Minister Yair Lapid would also like to launch negotiations. The meeting was perhaps meant to assuage and somewhat compensate an establishment Palestinian leadership feeling out in the cold following the Bennett-Biden meeting. The Palestinian issue was barely mentioned during the meeting in Washington. It's hard to understand where Gantz is coming from when he talks about the need to strengthen the elderly PA president. There's nothing there to be strengthened.
Gantz gave expression to the baseless worldview that separates the Muslim world according to moderates and extremists – always and irrespective of the facts. For example, former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is labeled a moderate versus his successor, Ebrahim Raisi; and the PLO is considered moderate in comparison to Hamas. It's one of the illusions that should have gone up in smoke during the most recent events in Afghanistan, which the Palestinians view as a "gift" for Israel. The Palestinians' cruel mode of thought is such that it pains them that a terrorist attack that murdered 170 people in Kabul prevented Hamas from sacrificing its own people as cannon fodder along the border fence in Gaza. Hamas, after all, planned a bloodbath that would have theoretically shaken the world's conscience.
It's sad to say, however, President Biden refuses to wake up. Not just because he's asleep, but because of all the issues on the national agenda, he knows the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is what's known as a "loser." There's no benefit in it. Paradoxically, the Americans can only benefit from the Palestinian arena if they want to harm the Israeli leadership. For the time being, they have no such interest. With that, there's an uneasy feeling that Gantz was forced to pay Abbas, in the form of approving 900 housing units in Area C, just to get a meeting he never wanted revealed to the press.
Gantz is the wobbly brick in the current government's wall. The meeting with Abbas is an indication of his desire for independence among the government's ministers, none of whom are particularly envious of his current responsibilities. Contrary to his colleagues, from the prime minister on down the chain, Gantz is trying to do work – if he would only back the IDF chief of staff on the operational level.
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