May 26, 2006

Contact Morton A. Klein at: www.zoa.org
Attn: NEWS EDITOR

ZOA & FORMER KNESSET DEFENSE CHAIRMAN CRITICIZE
ISRAELI DECISION TO TRANSFER ARMS TO PA CHIEF ABBAS

New York - The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and Likud MK
Yuval Steinitz, the former chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee, have criticized the decision of the Israeli government of
Ehud Olmert to transfer weaponry and ammunition to the presidential guard of
Palestinian Authority (PA) chief, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). According to a
report in Israel's Hebrew daily, Haaretz, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and
Defense Minister Amir Peretz decided yesterday to approve the transfer to in
order to bolster Abbas' in his conflict with Hamas and other anti-Abbas
factions. A similar proposal to transfer arms to Abbas was previously
considered but not approved by Peretz's predecessor, Shaul Mofaz (Haaretz,
May 25).

Yuval Steinitz described the move as a "wretched" decision. "Whoever
transfers weapons to the PA gives legitimacy to the world to transfer money
to the PA . What Abu Mazen is missing is not weapons, but determination and
will for a war against terrorism" (Haaretz, May 26).

Abbas is not a man who has shown any serious interest in peace with
Israel thereby deserving any help. As former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon told Jewish leaders in a meeting at Blair House in Washington D. C.,
on April 13, 2005, Mahmoud Abbas is "not a friend of the Jewish presence in
Israel; remember Abbas caused thousands of casualties of innocent Jews when
he worked with Arafat; he hasn't arrested terrorists, stopped the arms
smuggling or bomb factories. I must tell you that even the PA itself
smuggles weapons. No serious steps have been taken by Mazen and we can't get
to the Roadmap plan until the PA fully implements its obligations."

The Israeli decision comes despite the fact that, during a television
interview this week, Abbas twice referred to Palestinian terrorists serving
"tens of life sentences" in Israeli jails as "our jailed heroes." (PA TV,
May 23, 2006, translation courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch, May 25).
Abbas has often praised Palestinian terrorists. Other examples:

· After Israel's withdrawal from Gaza: "No one can underestimate the
role played by martyrs Yasser Arafat, Ahmad Yasin, Abdel Aziz Rantisi and
[slain Islamic Jihad leader] Fathi Shikaki, as well as all the martyrs."
(Palestinian Media Center, September 9, 2005).

· Terrorists wanted by Israel are "heroes fighting for freedom" (The
Age (Melbourne), January 3, 2005).

Abbas has also never condemned terrorism against Israelis as a moral
obscenity and crime to be condemned, but as merely poorly timed or a public
relations problem for Palestinians. Examples:

· After a suicide bombing in Hadera kills 5 Israelis: It "harms the
Palestinian interests" ( New York Times, October 26, 2005)

· After Palestinian terrorist fire rockets into Israel from Gaza: "I
say to them, this is not the time for this kind of attack" ( Washington
Times, January 3, 2005)

The words and deeds of Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah (Conquest) party:

· Mahmoud Abbas co-founded the terrorist Fatah party with Yasser
Arafat and was Arafat's deputy for 40 years.

· Fatah's existing Charter - which Abbas has never rescinded - calls
for the 'Complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist
economic, political, military and cultural existence' (Article 12), and says
that 'Armed struggle [i.e., terrorism] is a strategy and not a tactic'
(Article 19).

· From September 2000, when the wave of Palestinian terrorism began,
until December 2005, Fatah terrorists killed 405 Israelis, as against 442
killed by Hamas in the same period.

· Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades endorsed Iranian call for Israel
to be "wiped off the map": "We affirm our support and backing for the
positions of the Iranian president toward the Zionist state which, by God's
will, will cease to exist" (Jerusalem Post, November 6, 2005).

· Mahmoud Abbas was a mastermind of the Munich and Maalot massacres,
where three dozen Jews were murdered, including children.

· Mahmoud Abbas wrote a PhD thesis and then a book denying the
Holocaust entitled, The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism
and the Zionist Movement.

· Abbas has refused to fulfill PA obligations to combat and
Palestinian terrorist groups, saying that this is a "red line" that must not
be crossed (Washington Times, January 3, 2005).

· Abbas' view of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups: "We
have a common political agenda" ( The Daily Star (Beirut), December 9,
2004). In a joint statement, Abbas and other Palestinian terrorist leaders
stated, "There are no differences over the objectives" (Jerusalem Post,
December 10, 2004).

· Abbas supports the so-called 'right of return', whereby Palestinian
refugees and millions of their descendants would flood Israel: "We promise
you (Arafat) that our heart will not rest until we achieve the right of
return" (Israelinsider.com, November 23, 2004)

· Abbas' view of Israel: The "Zionist enemy" (CNN.com, January 7,
2005)

· Abbas approved a new law under which the families of Palestinian
terrorists are to receive $250 per month (Arutz 7, December 11, 2005)

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "The question needs to
be asked: why is Israel protecting and bolstering Mahmoud Abbas? This
decision to hand over arms and ammunition to Mahmoud Abbas' presidential
guard is a mistake, for at least three reasons. First, Israel might say that
it is giving these arms to bolster and protect Abbas, but what is to prevent
these same Fatah gunmen from turning their guns on Israeli civilians as
well, as they have done and continue to do?

"Second, Israel should be waging a strong and consistent campaign to
prevent international funding of the Hamas/PA regime. Abbas is president of
the PA, yet Israel is now actually going to give him arms and ammunition.
How does Israel seriously expect others to withhold funds from the PA when
Israel itself hands over weaponry and ammunition to Abbas? By doing this,
Israel is simply cutting the ground from under its own feet.

"Third, since succeeding Yasser Arafat, Abbas has not only failed to
fulfill Palestinian obligations under previous signed agreements and the
2003 Roadmap peace plan to fight terrorism and end the incitement to hatred
and murder in Palestinian society that feeds it, but his Fatah movement have
been as actively engaged as Hamas in the Palestinian terrorist campaign,
killing nearly as many Israeli men, women and children as Hamas. We urge the
Olmert government to urgently reconsider this profoundly mistaken decision."