Security cabinet votes in favor of steps to ‘prevent PA’s collapse’

Ministers in the high-level security cabinet vote in favor of a series of measures aimed at bolstering Palestinian Authority.

Far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir had vowed to opposed the measures, which ended up passing with one vote against and one abstention.

In a statement, the government says that the vote was geared toward “preventing the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, while advancing the demand that [it] cease its activities against Israel in the international legal-diplomatic arena, [end] incitement in its media and education systems, [and stop] payments to families of terrorists and murderers and illegal construction in Area C.”

Sunday’s vote follows a major counterterror operation carried out by Israeli forces last week in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, which Israel views as a hotbed of terror and where the PA has little authority.

According to Hebrew media reports, the proposals deliberated today are backed by the security establishment and include economic, travel and security measures aimed at stabilizing the PA.

Security officials told Channel 13 news that they have warned the political leadership of the PA’s possible fall and called for advancing the measures quickly. Many of the steps mentioned in the reports have been promised by past governments led by Netanyahu but have yet to come to fruition.

The measures are also intended to counter Iran’s influence in the West Bank, Ynet reported, following a series of attacks claimed by the Tehran-backed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.

The decision also comes weeks after Netanyahu pledged that Israel will work to develop a natural gas field off the coast of the Gaza Strip, a proposal that has been repeatedly floated for more than two decades.

The move is seen as a olive branch to the Palestinians and, if carried out, is expected to bring in billions of shekels to the PA.

The PA’s collapse would likely create chaos and a power vacuum in the West Bank, and an opportunity for terror groups to seize control, similar to the situation in Gaza, where Hamas violently ejected the PA in 2007. The PA has increasingly lost control over the northern West Bank, empowering terror groups, and spurring Israeli forces to carry out regular operations in the area.