Jordanian Official: Abbas Response to Trump's Jerusalem Decision 'A Complete Failure'

TEL AVIV — Sunni Arab countries are reportedly fuming at Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over his reaction to the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, according to Israeli paper Israel Hayom.

The paper quoted a Jordanian official as saying, “The Palestinians’ efforts to sway public opinion have been a complete failure, and as a result, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has created a rift between us [the Arab world] and Trump. We are once again left with the demagogic, hollow and inflammatory rhetoric of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”

According to the Algemeiner, citing the Israeli report and other sources, the Jordanian official also expressed dismay at Abbas’s attempts to punish the U.S. at the UN General Assembly.

Referring to last week’s GA resolution that rejected Trump’s announcement, the Jordanian official said, “Washington has made its views clear and said it would take action against those nations that voted against it at the UN General Assembly last week. Now, when it is clear Trump is indeed going to punish those that voted against the U.S., most countries are trying to cut their losses.”

The official said that the PA efforts to internationalize the conflict with Israel by turning to the UN and also by announcing multiple times that the U.S. can no longer serve as an honest broker added to the Arab nations’ – especially Jordan’s – frustration with Abbas.

Finally, the official expressed disappointment with the low turnout in riots against Israeli forces – despite the repeated calls for days of rage and a third intifada.

“We are very worried about the Palestinians’ actions over Jerusalem,” the official said. “Their efforts to shun the U.S. from the peace process and their insistence on international intervention are a double-edged sword that could hurt first and foremost Jordan’s status in Jerusalem and could bring about the exact opposite of the intended result. Many more countries could do what the U.S. has done after seeing that the region has not been destabilized and only a few thousand protesters have taken to the streets.”

According to the Algemeiner, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt are forming a committee that will deal with the issue of Jerusalem over the Palestinians’ heads. “The decision to establish this committee was, in effect, imposed on the Palestinian Authority by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan in a move that was backed by the Arab League,” the source noted. “This is a super committee that is headed by the secretary general of the Arab League, and it effectively puts the Arab League in charge of the policy on Jerusalem, taking it away from the Palestinians.”

Despite this, Abbas this week announced that all Palestinian officials will be cutting ties with American diplomats at all levels, including ties between the Palestinians and administration staffers posted in East Jerusalem.