'Palestinians are no partners for peace'

Jibril Rajoub's belligerent outbursts again reveal why peace between Israel and the Palestinians remains elusive. Photo: Issam Rimawi/Flash90

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, was incensed after seeing that senior Palestinian Authority official Jibril Rajoub had opened the Bethlehem Marathon by likening Israel to the Nazis.

Rajoub was once the warlord of all Palestinian Authority armed forces in Judea and Samaria (the so-called “West Bank”). Today, he is Secretary General of the central committee of the ruling Fatah faction, the party of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Rajoub is also head of the Palestinian Football Association and the Palestine Olympic Committee.

In his venomous address kicking off the Bethlehem Marathon at the weekend, Rajoub stated: “International law must be enforced against the ugly face of Nazism, meaning Zionism. They are the new Nazis that are trying to eliminate the Palestinian people. The time to banish or resist them has come.”

As Erdan noted in a tweet on Tuesday, such remarks expose the “true face” of the Palestinian leadership, who “have no interest in being partners for peace.”

Senior PA official Jibril Rajoub opened a marathon in Bethlehem this weekend by calling Israel Nazis & for the expulsion of 🇮🇱 before an @EUCouncil rep. To the Palestinian supporters in the @UN, this is their true face: they have no interest in being partners for peace. pic.twitter.com/3mFwn1pMW8

— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) March 22, 2022

Calling someone a Nazi in today’s world puts them beyond the pale. The lesson of World War II is that you can’t make peace with Nazis, but rather must fight and defeat them.

If, as Erdan pointed out, this is how senior Palestinian Authority officials view Israel, how then can peace be made with them?