“Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you.”  (Exodus 34:12)

Former Israeli Member of Parliament (MK) Avigdor Lieberman has interpreted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s open invitation to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for peace talks as a sign of secret talks between the two leaders.

Avigdor Lieberman

Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beytenu party and last held office as Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel between 2009 and 2015, said Thursday that he suspects Abbas and Netanyahu have been “exchanging papers” with demands and promises, respectively.

“There are several strange signs, which I interpret as an attempt by the prime minister to hide the negotiations with Abbas from the Cabinet,” Lieberman said in an interview with Ynet News.  “We suddenly saw two weeks ago that the prime minister is willing to clear his entire schedule for a meeting with Abbas.”

Lieberman also asserts that the alleged secret talks had resulted in the restart of full electricity provision to the Palestinian Authority (PA) on April 6, after Bethlehem received half its regular electricity provision over two days — resulting in a four-hour blackout last Monday.

“The company’s management stressed that it intends to take all available means to collect the debt and prevent it from growing further,” the Israel Electricity Corporation (IEC) stated at the time.

The IEC on April 4 had limited its electricity output to PA customers after they racked up $460 million (NIS 1.74 billion) in unpaid power bills to the company.  According to the World Bank, “the two largest non-payer electricity distributors [in the PA] account for 70% of the total non-payments during 2012–2013.”

While these and other PA-based customers have rejected their financial obligations to the IEC, the power company, out of concern for the PA population has continued to provide electricity despite the massive outstanding debt.

Bethlehem

As of last April, the IEC was providing 88 percent of the PA-run areas’ electricity consumption, according to the World Bank.

Now, according to the electricity company, the PA has agreed to repay about $500,000 of the debt in exchange for the IEC resuming its power supply.

“We see that, in magical fashion, the dispute between the Israel Electric Corporation and the Palestinian Authority over debts has been resolved, and all of the power outages have suddenly stopped,” Lieberman said Thursday.  (YNet)

In addition to electricity issues, Lieberman also theorizes that the PA has been negotiating for Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to stop their activity in Area A, one-fifth of the Judea-Samaria territory.

The Oslo Accords created temporary administrative divisions, which the newly formed Palestinian Authority would administer.  The red areas in the above map show areas of Palestinian control and joint control as of 2006.  Since the election in 2006, however, Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip.

While Area A is under PA civilian and security control, in accordance with the 1994 Oslo Accords, the IDF has conducted missions to take down active terror targets, since the PA has failed to maintain such security on its own.  (Arutz Sheva)

On March 14, Barak Ravid of  Haaretz exclusively reported that, “for the past month,” secret negotiations had proposed limiting IDF operations in Area A only to “ticking-bomb cases,” naming Ramallah and Jericho as the first cities slated for withdrawal.  Though no deal has yet been made, the news agency reports that some disputes have been resolved.

In light of these reports and the real security threats of the current terror uprising, Lieberman called Netanyahu’s open invitation to Abbas “confusing and contradictory.”

“On one hand, Netanyahu blames Abbas for being the chief inciter, and on the other he’s willing to clear his schedule to meet with him,” he said.  (Ynet)

“Besides, we’re talking, as always, about Israeli concessions first.  We haven’t seen demands that Abbas, for instance, condemns terror attacks against Israeli civilians,” Lieberman added.  “Abbas has backed all terror attacks up to now so it’s hard for me to see something positive for us about those negotiations — that are probably taking place at the moment.”

Nevertheless, two weeks ago, Netanyahu publicly accepted Abbas’ extended hand by saying, “I’ve cleared my schedule this week.  Any day he can come, I’ll be here.”

Exposing his own bluff, Abbas did not publicly stop by.