The way Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman sees it, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is a serial peace refusenik and all the more dangerous since he uses non-violent tactics and publicly denounces Palestinian terrorism, attracting many good people in the West and Israel to his cause. These people believe that Abbas wants to reach a peace agreement, and it does not interest them that Abbas encouraged Yasser Arafat to leave the Camp David summit in 2000 as soon as Ehud Barak expressed a willingness to discuss dividing Jerusalem; and Abbas himself ran as fast as he could back to Ramallah from Jerusalem after Ehud Olmert offered him far-reaching concessions in 2009. Each day brings new evidence. During a recent meeting between Abbas and prominent U.S. Jews, renowned lawyer Alan Dershowitz pressed Abbas to return to the negotiating table with Israel. Dershowitz suggested a proposal in which Israel would not officially commit to stopping settlement construction but would do so in practice. The Palestinian Authority leader did not respond. He usually runs away when he hears offers like these. But Lieberman must not manage a private diplomatic campaign against Abbas in the name of Israel. Lieberman cannot call for the ousting of Abbas, work for the removal of the Palestinian Authority leader and recommend the election of someone else just because Lieberman is fed up with Abbas. The government, or at least the eight-member inner security cabinet, must meet to decide on Lieberman's bid to bring down Abbas. It must decide either to authorize Lieberman to force Abbas from power or order Lieberman to cease his private campaign against the head of the Palestinian Authority. Israel is paying a price for the current situation. Israel's enemies believe that Lieberman speaks for the government and Israel's friends are angry at Lieberman's statements. Israel itself has nothing to gain from the ousting of Abbas. On the contrary, instability at the top of the power pyramid in Ramallah harms Israel. Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Lieberman's tirades against Abbas do not represent official government policy. As defense minister, Barak is in charge of Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria and in a position to respond to Lieberman's actions. But the primary duty to hush Lieberman rests on the shoulders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. If Netanyahu does not do so, Lieberman's actions will be interpreted as a diplomatic process approved by Netanyahu. This would be damaging, particularly because Netanyahu does not intend to remove Abbas. Who are the alternatives to Abbas to lead the Palestinian Authority? Who would continue policies rejecting terrorism? A Muslim Brotherhood leader? A Hamas leader? Abbas is bad for the peace process and the development of ties between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, but chances are that his replacement would be worse. Abbas has angered Israel with his initiative to obtain non-member observer state status for the Palestinians at the U.N. This anger is understandable. But those who would replace Abbas would be more extreme than him. It is not Israel's role to intervene in the composition of the Palestinian leadership. Such a role is not worthwhile.
