The Oct. 29 decision by the Palestine Central Council (PCC) to suspend its recognition of Israel until the latter recognizes Palestine on the 1967 borders failed to attract much attention from Israel or the world. The resolution followed a hint in this direction made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his Sept. 27 UN General Assembly speech.

The credibility of both Abbas and the PLO's various institutions, including the Palestine National Council (PNC) and the PCC, has been devastated ever since the Palestinian president and his security team failed to adhere to the May 4 decision of the PNC that had called for “the suspension of all forms of security coordination with Israel.”

When asked by Al-Monitor about the seriousness of the Palestinian leadership in carrying out its threats this time, half a dozen well-respected officials, experts and analysts all answered in the negative.

Hossam Ezzedine, a Ramallah-based political analyst, told Al-Monitor that he doesn't believe the Palestinian leadership will carry out the PCC decision. “If you read carefully the final communique of the PCC, you will notice that all the agreed-upon decisions have to be implemented by a special committee set up and headed by the Palestinian president. This is unusual because normally, the PLO's Executive Committee is responsible for implementing decisions of the PLO's top bodies.”