RAMALLAH, May 5, 2018 (WAFA) – The continuing campaign in Israel and the United States against President Mahmoud Abbas accusing him of anti-Semitism is an attempt to make him “irrelevant” in a manner similar to the campaign against former President Yasser Arafat before his death, Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said on Saturday.

He told Voice of Palestine radio that the campaign is continuing despite a clarification by President Abbas in which he apologized if he had offended anyone by his statements on Europe’s Jews at the opening meeting of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) session in Ramallah on Monday.

Erekat said the US and Israel attempted to get the United Nations Security Council to issue a condemnation of the president’s statements but they have failed in their efforts.

He said Israel on the other hand remains isolated by the international community, which forced it to withdraw a bid to win a Security Council non-permanent seat for the 2019-2020 term.

He said that President Abbas is going to visit three Latin American countries – Chile, Cuba and Venezuela - in order to strengthen relations with these countries and garner more support for the Palestinian cause.

On the first meeting of the newly-elected Executive Committee held on Friday under Abbas’ chairmanship, Erekat said that the meeting discussed mechanisms and timetable to start immediate implementation of the decisions of the PNC, which entrusted the Committee of laying out a strategy to sever ties with Israel until the latter takes steps to implement its obligations in the agreements signed between them.

M.K.