“You make of us an object of strife unto our neighbors and our enemies laugh amongst themselves.” (Psalms 80:7)

The latest Islamic terrorist attack in Jerusalem has once again brought in its wake the usual cacophony of laughs (from the Arab side) and complaints (from Israelis), first and foremost from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, wailing about the lack of a condemnation by Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority (PA), who continues to happily fund and praise the vile acts by the practitioners of Jihad.

The stench of hypocrisy has become unbearable. In his latest pusillanimous post, Netanyahu  calls on world leaders to condemn both the terror attack and the fact that the PA  is financing and honoring the terrorists. His statement is correct and the demand is reasonable. So what is the problem? It’s actually very simple. Bibi has repeatedly expressed his desire to meet with and negotiate with Abbas, who he affectionately refers to as Abu Mazen. How outrageous! If Yasser Arafat was the father of modern Islamic terrorism, Abbas is certainly the son and successor. It is he that is responsible for formalizing and expanding the payments to terrorists of all stripes, and, despite rumors to the contrary, this has not abated in the age of Trump. The PA continues to be a non-discriminatory equal-opportunity employer – it pays any Muslim terrorist – Hamas, Fatah, PFLP, Islamic Jihad, or even ISIS – who kills or wounds Jews.

How can we expect foreign leaders to back our just demands when our own PM practically begs Abbas to sit with him, while at the same time illegally handing over Area C,  presently under full Israeli control, to the PA as a “good-will gesture”? Bibi’s hypocrisy is pathetic and most disturbingly, is part of a pattern of weakness – one hand grants undeserved gestures to enemies of Israel, while the other restricts Jewish growth. Thus, his crocodile tears about world leaders not condemning Abbas ring hollow, due to Bibi’s ever-present willingness to commune with the terror chieftain.

World leaders will not respect an Israel that doesn’t respect itself.

Reprinted with author’s permission from Israel National News