Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ remarks delivered March 19 to the Palestinian leadership revealed an unhinged leader no longer willing to be politically correct.

Israeli and international media paid a great deal of attention to an insult that the typically reserved Abbas hurled at David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel. The speech also revealed a vindictive leader who apparently has no problem punishing the entire Gaza Strip for the March 13 attempted assassination of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and General Intelligence Service chief Majid Faraj. Six people were slightly injured when one of two roadside bombs hit Hamdallah's convoy as it entered Gaza.

Abbas’ attack on Friedman, in which he used the colloquial insult “ibn kalb” (son of a dog), kept the media and pundits debating whether it amounted to a major vulgarity or a simple insult common in Palestinian exchanges. Abbas’ remark was suggested by Friedman to be an anti-Semitic attack. Abbas' insulting description was removed from the text of his speech published by the official Wafa news agency. No Palestinian officially has publicly denounced the statement.

Palestinian diplomatic officials contacted by Al-Monitor were unwilling to comment on the record about the incident. Some expressed mixed opinions. “On the one hand, it doesn’t reflect well on Palestinians diplomatically, but on the other hand, it feels good that someone in a high position expressed the anger that many of us feel,” said a Palestinian ambassador who requested anonymity. It seems the insult will hardly make a difference, however, as US-led peace efforts appear to be stuck following President Donald Trump's Dec. 6 announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the subsequent Palestinian boycott of US officials.