US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, said that America is considering replacing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas with Fatah’s dismissed leader, Mohammed Dahlan.
Friedman made the comments yesterday in an interview with Israel Today, which is known to be close to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
When asked whether the US administration is considering nominating Dahlan, who currently lives in the UAE, as the new Palestinian leader, Friedman replied: “We are thinking about it, but we have no desire to engineer the Palestinian leadership.”
US ambassador to 'Israel' David Friedman: "We are thinking of replacing Abbas with Dahlan. But we have no desire to shape the Palestinian administration." pic.twitter.com/kbBmLRrqZX
— Barry Mulligan 🏴🇮🇪🇵🇸 (@bmulligan82) September 17, 2020
The newspaper pointed out that according to reports, the United States may support Dahlan in order to remove Abbas.
Friedman attacked the Palestinian leadership, while referring to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria.
“The Palestinian leadership is not serving the people properly,” he said.
The US official added, in reference to the West Bank, “I believe that people in Judea and Samaria want a better life. The Palestinian people need to understand that it is possible to achieve such a goal.”
#Palestinians Need to Discard and Disregard #US and International Misrepresentations https://t.co/hZqjwd5KTp via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/JCbGT4j045
— @palestinechron (@PalestineChron) September 18, 2020
“Their leadership is still attached to long-standing complaints and irrelevant issues. They have to join the 21st century, because they are on the wrong side of history right now.”
Friedman stressed that the lands of the West Bank belonged to Israel and that Jews had the right to settle there.
He also strongly advocated for the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and became the first diplomat to assume responsibility for the US Embassy, which was transferred w from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Faux Peace: #Israel and #Arab #Gulf Royals https://t.co/1r6n6xQzyO via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/9AQBZWfzPR
— @palestinechron (@PalestineChron) September 17, 2020
Fifty-seven-year-old Dahlan was expelled from Fatah’s ruling body in 2011 on allegations of plotting to overthrow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and has been living in exile in the UAE since 2012.
He was the former head of the Fatah-dominated Preventive Security Force in the Gaza Strip.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
