Haniyeh questions viability of PA, raises option of dissolving it

By News Agencies

RAMALLAH - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas questioned yesterday whether the Palestinian Authority can continue to function with key lawmakers and ministers in Israeli jails.

This is the first time Haniyeh has raised the possibility of dissolving the PA since a Hamas-led government took power in March.

"All political elites, the presidency, the factions and the government are invited to discuss the future of the Palestinian Authority following this attack," Haniyeh said, referring to Israel’s arrest of parliament speaker Aziz Dweik of Hamas last week. "Can the Palestinian Authority function under the occupation, kidnappings and assassination?" he asked lawmakers in the West Bank via a video link from the Gaza Strip.

Asked later if he believed the PA should be dissolved, Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza that Israel’s goal was to make the PA "weak, ineffective," and added: "They have raised the necessity to discuss the future of the authority."

Israel seized more than 20 lawmakers and eight government ministers after Hamas militants in Gaza kidnapped an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid in June. Two ministers have since been released. Israel also launched a ground and air offensive that has killed at least 163 Palestinians in the coastal strip.

Haniyeh’s suggestion drew support from some of Hamas’s political rivals.

"It’s our right to question the benefit of the Palestinian Authority’s continuation," said Salam Fayyad, an independent lawmaker and former finance minister. "The continuation of the Palestinian Authority will acquit Israel of its responsibility as an occupying power."

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly accused Israel of undermining the Palestinian Authority.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/748445.html