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Source: https://jcfa.org/the-disastrous-legacy-of-mahmoud-abbas/
The Disastrous Legacy of Mahmoud Abbas
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch - Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who became head of the Palestine Liberation Organization after Yasser Arafat's death, is a Holocaust-denying, terror-supporting, corrupt dictator who was bad for Israel, bad for the Palestinians, and bad for peace, which he undermined more than promoted. His policies promoted, incited, and rewarded terrorism and the systematic indoctrination of generations of Palestinians to hate Israel and Israelis. He insisted on treating genocidal terrorist organizations such as Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as legitimate Palestinian factions and continued to reject peace efforts. Abbas bears direct responsibility for the deaths of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis. If the PA is to continue playing any future role, any future Palestinian leader must be the absolute antithesis of Abbas. While consistently feigning moderation and pragmatism, Abbas consistently rejected peace. In 2008, he rejected an offer by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to create a Palestinian state. Instead, Abbas chose to pursue virtual statehood, repeatedly requesting that the UN recognize the non-existent "State of Palestine." Abbas accumulated a substantial personal fortune estimated to be over $100 million. His sons, Tarek and Yasser, run the large Falcon business consortium that controls much of Palestinian commerce. The consortium includes tobacco, electrical and mechanical engineering, media, construction, and investment interests. They, too, have amassed huge personal fortunes. The writer, former director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, is director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center.