Did Abbas just ditch Oslo?
The Palestinian president’s decision to suspend all agreements with Israel comes after years of calls by the PLO’s Central Council to end security cooperation with Israel, but does he mean it?
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s surprise visit to Jordan and meeting with King Abdullah II on July 24 telegraphed that an important decision was about to be made. The king had just returned from a long vacation in the United States, and Abbas was under a lot of pressure to respond to the demolition of tens of Palestinian homes in Sur Baher, on the outskirts of East Jerusalem, west of the separation barrier, on July 22. Many of the demolished homes had been built in Area A, designated by the Oslo Accords (Declaration of Principles) as under the direct administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Since March 2015, the PLO’s Central Council has been calling for the Oslo-created PA — established by the PLO in cooperation with Israel to administer Palestinian-controlled areas — to end to security coordination with Israel, perhaps the most important aspect of the agreement from Israel’s point of view.
On July 25 in a clearly made-for-TV event, Abbas announced the suspension of agreements with Israel. The call was sent out for the top Palestinian leaders, including members of the PLO Executive Committee and other leading members, Fatah's Central Council and senior government officials, to gather at the Muqata for a public statement by Abbas.
“We announce the leadership's decision to stop implementing the agreements signed with the Israeli side,” Abbas said, addressing television cameras and those gathered at his Ramallah headquarters. A committee will apparently be created to implement the decision, but no additional specifics were offered.
