Palestinians Debate Wisdom Of Escalated Terror
Top Palestinian security officers and a number of Fatah leaders, including President Mahmoud Abbas, have been at odds recently over the latter’s wish to step up the recent wave of Palestinian terror attacks, a senior Palestinian security official told Breitbart Jerusalem.
The official described Abbas’s position: “In light of the diplomatic stalemate, and the prevalent feeling among Israelis that they can live in security while the Palestinians live under occupation, the current wave of popular resistance must be intensified.”
“The president is not encouraging bombings or the use of firearms in any way,” the source emphasized, “but he thinks that large-scale demonstrations, stone- and Molotov cocktail-throwing could be a bargaining chip for the Palestinian leadership, and may spur the international community to get more involved. Currently, the president believes the peace of the Israelis is hardly disturbed.”
The official estimates that Abbas’s action plan could help clear two significant hurdles. On the one hand, the leadership is unable to stir up widespread protests because it is seen as divided and lacking a long-term plan. “On the other hand,” the official said, “the officers fear that raising the level of violence runs the risk of going out of control and spreading anarchy, which may drive the Israeli army back into the West Bank in full force. It may also incentivize Hamas to try and stage a coup.”
The officers, he added, work in close cooperation with their Israeli counterparts and regularly liaise with the American defense establishment.
“These officers were trained by General Dayton’s forces after Hamas’s coup in Gaza, in an attempt to prevent a similar maneuver in the West Bank. They believe that popular violence will greatly endanger the [Palestinian] Authority and the Palestinian people, and said it to the president himself. They told him that it’s a gamble, and that nobody can guarantee that a stone and a Molotov cocktail won’t turn into an explosive belt and complete anarchy that would benefit both the Israeli right and Hamas.”
Leading Saudi Paper Recommends Going Nuclear
Fearful of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons upon the expiration of key sections of the international nuclear accord, an influential pro-government Saudi newspaper has recommended that the kingdom take immediate steps to join the nuclear club.
The Al-Riyadh daily urged the country’s leaders to begin establishing a “clear road map for a civilian nuclear program.” The goal should be to open the first Saudi nuclear reactor by 2030 – one year before most of the significant constraints on Iran’s nuclear program lapse.
The Al-Riyadh editors warned that Iran cannot be trusted after the 15-year restrictions are ended on Iran’s uranium-enrichment capacity, use of advanced centrifuges, and stockpile of enriched uranium.
The newspaper called upon the kingdom, “even today,” to begin “preparing a nuclear program for peaceful purposes so as to gain the necessary knowledge about the nuclear fuel cycle and build nuclear reactors for producing electricity and desalinating water, [thus] varying our energy sources.”
Al-Riyadh pointed out that the kingdom has “the right to enrich uranium up to the internationally permitted level, that is [a level of] 3.75 percent.” The editors called for a “timetable or a clear road map for a civilian nuclear program to meet Saudi Arabia’s goals.”
The Saudis have previously hinted at pursuing nuclear capabilities. Prince Mohammed bin Nawwaf bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s long-serving ambassador to London, said last June that “all options are on the table” if the international community fails to keep Tehran in check.
Three months earlier, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States refused to rule out the possibility of the Saudis building a nuclear infrastructure in response to Iran’s ambitions.
