Israel should stop talking peace with the Palestinian Authority so long as its chairman continues to incite to terrorism, said Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud) on Sunday.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Danon said that Israel should demand that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemn the murders of two soldiers over the past two days before any peace negotiations can resume.
Danon made the remarks in the wake of the murder of IDF soldier Tomer Hazan at the hands of a PA Arab terrorist who worked alongside him at a restaurant and lured him to Samaria, where he murdered him and disposed of his body.
On Sunday, yet another soldier was murdered, this time in a sniper shooting attack in Hevron.
“The terrorist [who murdered Hazan] did not act alone,” said Danon. “His family is connected to the Tanzim terror group and his brother is in jail. We need to put the writing on the wall and say it the way it is: The PA’s incitement, its glorification of terrorists, Abbas’s demands to release terrorists, the funds that are transferred to terrorists including the brother of the murderer – all these create the impression [among PA Arabs] that they have to fight for these terrorists. This is incitement and we are paying the price for it.”
Israel, said Danon, “should demand that the PA leadership stop inciting, stop talking in different voices in Washington on the one hand and in the mosques and on TV where they incite against the state of Israel on the other hand.”
According to Danon, Israel presents the world with information on the salaries that the PA pays terrorists and its incitement towards terrorism, “but for some reason it is not being internalized, except for the occasional condemnation. The PA textbooks in Judea and Samaria under Abbas, not in Gaza, continue the incitement against Jews and against Israel and those countries ignore this.”
Since Abbas has yet to condemn the recent murders of IDF soldiers, said Deputy Minister Danon, Israel should demand such a condemnation before the resumption of any talks with him, as well as demand that the PA incitement end immediately.
“We cannot continue negotiating with the Palestinians while they are attacking us,” he said. “I’ve asked the Prime Minister to hold the negotiations until Abbas comes and condemns the attacks against Israelis. I believe the government of Israel will adopt my position.”
