Let’s face it. PLO Arab leader Mahmud Abbas is not living up to his side of the bargain. After all, promising terrorists jobs in the security forces does not constitute dismantling the terrorist infrastructure but rather reorganizing it.
But the Israeli government do not want to come down too hard on him, since this makes their disengagement plan look foolish. As a result, you see Israeli government ministers treading carefully when speaking about Abbas’ performance.
Take for example Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz, who apparently had this to say:
“I feel that the steps Abu Mazen (Abbas) is taking are in the right direction but it is being done very slowly,” Mofaz told army radio. “What is even slower is seeing the results from these steps.”—-“We still have to give a chance to this process because Abu Mazen’s intentions are heading in the right direction. But it is not enough – we must see results,” he said.“They know we are waiting to see results but it is very possible it will take some time. However the period of time the Palestinians are giving it is too long.”
Almost as long as it took Mofaz to get to his point. Which is that the PLO Arab leader’s intentions and actions are “heading in the right direction” – whatever that means.
But think about it. If Mazen’s intentions are “heading in the right direction”, it means that we don’t think that he currently has good intentions. They are just not as bad as they used to be, and getting better with time. Yet Mofaz did not come out and blast Mazen, as he should have.
Which is disappointing. Because when I saw the headline to this story (Palestinian leader moving in right direction: Israel minister), I imagined something like this:
