“I am talking about a non-traditional solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in an interview on the Egyptian Sada El Balad TV network Aug. 22. Abbas was referring to the plan he might present to US Secretary of State John Kerry this week. Simultaneously, sources in the Palestinian Authority leaked to The Associated Press that Abbas will soon turn to the UN Security Council to ask it to set a target date for Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank territories. If his request is not approved, he will turn to the International Criminal Court in The Hague and file a complaint against Israel for war crimes.

This is not a diplomatic plan but an ultimatum for withdrawal.

Operation Protective Edge has pushed Abbas into a corner and forces him to try to pull rabbits out of his hat. But the plan to set a deadline for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank, in the midst of the war it's waging against Hamas in Gaza, is illogical, and not just for its timing. Abbas is disconnected from reality.

Abbas’ actions following the abduction and murder of the three teenagers in the Etzion settlement block in June have amazed observers.