White House urges Abbas to choose hate or peace

RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas labeled the US ambassador to Israel David Friedman a “son of a dog” on Monday during an attack on Donald Trump’s policies. United States, U.S. and Israeli officials have lambasted Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, after he called the American ambassador to Israel a “son of a dog” and a “settler” in a fiery speech the day before. Friedman responded during a speech in Jerusalem to a conference on combating global anti-Semitism, saying: “His response was to refer to me as son of a dog. “President Abbas’s comments were outrageous and unhelpful,” said US State Department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert. What should we expect from him?”

Friedman, a strong supporter of Israel’s settler movement, was an early and enthusiastic advocate of US President Donald Trump’s Dec. 6 decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move the US embassy there. Speaking at the start of a Palestinian leadership meeting in Ramallah on Monday, Abbas also sharply increased tensions with the rival Hamas faction, saying that Hamas was behind an assassination attempt on the Palestinian prime minister last week. Abbas, who controls the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority government, said that he would respond to the attack with “national, legal, and financial measures.”

The Palestinian leader’s strong words appear to foreshadow a new pressure campaign against Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas insults U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman, calling him a "son of a dog" when he says Israeli settlers build on their land in the occupied West Bank. The U.S. warns Abbas to "choose between hate and peace".