Israeli Minister Yuval Steinitz: Abu Mazen is Israel's "Number One Enemy"

Jerusalem, 1 December, 2016 (TPS) -- Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz said on Thursday that Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is Israel’s “number one enemy.”

 Abbas warned during a Fatah Central Committee meeting in Ramallah on Wednesday that the Palestinians’ recognition of the State of Israel would not be “eternal,” should recognition not be reciprocated by the Israelis. He stressed his confidence that the Palestinians will eventually gain independence and that the removal of settlements “requires patience.”

In an interview with Israel radio, Steinitz argued that to withdraw his recognition of Israel, Mahmoud Abbas would have to first start by recognizing it.

“Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) has never recognized the right of the State of Israel to exist, and continues to deny it. […] He always posited that the Jews had no right to their own homeland state whether in Ramallah or Tel Aviv,” he claimed.

“Ideologically, Abu Mazen is the Number One enemy to the very existence of the State of Israel, even more so than Arafat ,” he concluded.

These declarations follow on the heels of six United Nations resolutions adopted by the General Assembly  on Wednesday on “Palestinian and Middle East issues,” aimed at reigniting concerted action to revive peace talks.

One resolution pertains to Jerusalem and its holy sites. The measure, approved by a 149-7 vote with 8 abstentions,  reiterates UNESCO’s resolution language omitting Israeli ties to the Temple Mount and calling moves by Israel “the occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem … [remains] illegal and therefore null and void and had no validity whatsoever.”

Steinitz also referred to the resolutions as “a sad joke for Israel and for the world.” He also claimed the specific condemnation of Israel in the face of the horrible acts occurring currently in the Middle East, whether in Syria or Iraq, had “an anti-semitic orientation.”

Israel Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon severely criticized President of the General Assembly John William Ashe for wearing a Palestinian flag scarf during the November 29 UNGA session. This session was held marking the yearly UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on the anniversary date to the General Assembly’s 1947 adoption of the Partition Plan for Palestine UNGA Resolution 181.

“It is unfortunate that the @UN_PGA chose to wear the Palestinian flag at an event whose sole purpose was to slander Israel,” Dannon stated on Twitter.  In his speech at the UNGA, he also  exhibited the New York Times’ headline of the edition following the 1947 vote and relayed it in a twitter post:  “The @nytimes from the day after the Partition Plan vote: ‘Assembly Votes Palestine Partition. Arabs Walk Out.’ This is the whole story.”