Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas distanced himself from direct or indirect interference in Israel’s national elections, rejecting accusations from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming that Abbas endorsed his rival, former chief of staff Benny Gantz.
A Palestinian official source told Netanyahu to stop spreading lies in this regard.
“Statements about the fact that Abu Mazen gave his blessing to Gantz never happened and never existed,” the PA statement said.
“Mr. Netanyahu, there is a saying in Arabic that says, 'You can lie to the dead but not to the living.’ Please stop spreading lies in the name of Abu Mazen," the statement added.
“The problem is that Abbas is satisfied because Benny Gantz said that he would carry out a second disengagement in Judea and Samaria, and Abbas wished him success in the election,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli websites have reported that the Palestinian presidency welcomes the statements made by Gantz, who supported Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan with Gaza in 2005, suggesting that if he wins the elections he would consider disengagement from the West Bank.
The Israeli candidate didn’t mention the Palestinian people, but he said “we must take the lessons from the disengagement and implement them in other areas,” applauding its execution that was conducted “in a painful way, but a good one.”
Netanyahu’s accusations come at at a time when Central Elections Committee Chairman and Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice Hanan Meltzer said there is "fear of foreign influences” in the upcoming elections in Israel just as happened in the United States.
During his meeting with heads of the electronic media, the judge asked them to "ignore anonymous items.”
He also addressed challenges facing the committee in organizing the election campaign, saying “there's a fear of foreign influences, the impact of social networks and surveys.”
“One of the reasons for the decision not to switch to computerized voting is because of the fear of foreign influences,” Meltzer said at the meeting.
The meeting was convened to discuss limitations imposed by the Campaign Methods clause in the Election Law on electronic broadcasting during the 60 days preceding the election day.
