Israeli Minister Predicts Collapse of Palestinian Authority

Image by Getty Images
An Israeli government minister predicted the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
“The question is not if the PA collapses but when it is going to collapse,” said Immigrant Absorption and Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Ze’ev Elkin on Monday during a speech at Bar-Ilan University. “It can happen in a month or two or a year or two tops.”
Elkin called the current wave of terror a “promo” for what will happen after the PA collapses.
“Israeli citizens will pay the price for anarchy in the PA, especially the settlements, and we must prepare for more difficult attacks,” he said.
Elkin reportedly said he took his warnings public after he tried to discuss the issue at Cabinet meetings with no success.
Elkin also said that the PA has no system to choose a successor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and that “the most probable scenario is a violent succession struggle in the PA.”
He added that: “If the PA collapses the world will blame Israel,” and that the international community of nations will withdraw financial support to the Palestinians.
“If we don’t prepare for the collapse of the PA the reality will force itself on us and the cost will be dear,” he warned.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
