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Comments (0)The PLO named Mahmoud Abbas the president of the future state of Palestine.
In a show of support, the group gave the Palestinian Authority president the symbolic title held by the late Yasser Arafat.
Abbas, the leader of the West Bank, has had frequent clashes with Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007.
Also Sunday, the Damascus-based exiled leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, verbally attacked Abbas for placing advertisements in Israel’s major daily newspapers over the weekend stating that 57 Arab countries would make peace with Israel if it pulled out of the West Bank, Gaza, parts of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
“I do not succumb to the Israeli-American veto. I do what is in the interest of the Palestinian people,” Abbas responded to Meshaal’s attack, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported.
Also Sunday, Abbas said he would call elections early next year unless Hamas continues reconciliation talks with Abbas’ Fatah movement. Abbas and Hamas are deadlocked over when Abbas’ term ends. Abbas says he has another year; Hamas says his term ends at the end of this year.
Gaza Crossings Remain Closed After Attacks
Ehud Barak ordered crossings into Gaza to remain closed after weekend rocket attacks.
The crossings remained closed Sunday, by order of Israel’s defense minister, after three Kassam rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel on Saturday night. One landed near Sderot and another in a kibbutz south of Ashkelon.
On Nov. 21, a rocket hit the Ashkelon industrial area. At least one Kassam was fired on Israel Sunday.
The Defense Ministry had decided earlier that the crossings would be open after a quiet weekend. The crossings have been closed since Nov. 5.
The Israel Defense Forces responded to the attacks by firing on Gaza gunmen preparing to launch another rocket.
Israel-based Neo-Nazis Sentenced to Prison
Eight members of a neo-Nazi gang based in central Israel were sentenced to prison.
On Sunday, a Tel Aviv District Court handed down the sentences, the longest of which was seven years. The state prosecutor had signed plea agreements with the cell members, males aged 16 to 21. Four were convicted in April.
The cell members were arrested in September, accused of attacks on drug addicts, homosexuals, religious Jews wearing kipot and foreign workers, among others.
“These are horrifying actions no Jews can accept.” Judge Zvi Gurfinkel wrote in his ruling. “The fact that these are Jews who immigrated to Israel and have chosen to adopt racial theories is grave. The notion that they did so in order to please others is unacceptable.”