NOVANEWS
jpost.com
ed note–if the name Mitan Vilnai sounds familiar, it should, as he was the butcher who warned the Palestinians that they would be “holocausted”, a genocidal threat that was then made good with operation Cast Lead.
Home front defense minister says military preparing for statehood aftermath; FM: Their will be “severe” consequences to unilateral move.
The Palestinians are making a “huge mistake” by moving forward with plans to unilaterally declare statehood at the United Nations next week, Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said on Wednesday.
Vilnai said that diplomatic efforts to stop the Palestinian Authority’s plans were continuing around the world and that PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad were at odds over the plan. Fayyad is understood to be opposed to the declaration at the UN.
“There is no question that something will happen with September although no one knows what it will be,” Vilnai said following a briefing to reporters. “There are disagreements between Abu Mazen [Abbas] and Fayyad and there are continued diplomatic efforts to stop them. The Palestinians are making a huge mistake and they know it.”
He said that the defense establishment was preparing for a wide-range of scenarios that could erupt along Israel’s borders and in the West Bank.
Earlier, a senior defense official said that current IDF assessments were that demonstrations and disturbances that erupt following the PA’s declaration at the UN will likely last a number of months.
”Everyone talks about September but it is not as if the 31st of September will come and everything will end,” the senior official said. “We assume that it could last throughout October and November as well.”
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also addressed the Palestinian statehood bid on Wednesday, saying their would be “severe” and “difficult” consequences to the move.
He expressed hope that common sense would win out and in the end and it would be possible for Israelis and Palestinians to coexist and make progress in the peace process.
Lieberman added that the Palestinians have “taken for granted” every concession Israel has made to them and has not accepted these concessions as goodwill gestures.
