Israel Matzav

Warrant issued for PA whistleblower's arrest

Ten days ago, I blogged an interview with Fahmi Shabaneh, a former anti-corruption official with Fatah, who warned that unless the 'Palestinian Authority' cleaned up its act, Hamas would take over Judea and Samaria. On Wednesday, the 'Palestinian Authority' issued a warrant for Shabaneh's arrest.

It comes a day after Shabaneh issued an ultimatum to PA President Mahmoud Abbas to remove the corrupt officials in the Palestinian leader's office within two weeks or he will expose more cases of corruption that "would seriously embarrass the PA and even harm its relations with Arab and Muslim countries as well as donors."

Wednesday's arrest warrant was signed by the PA prosecutor general, who also accused Shabaneh of involvement in selling land to Jews. However, Shabaneh is a resident of Jerusalem, where the PA does not have the power to make arrests.

According to Shabaneh, the material he will expose is far more severe than what had been published so far.

Earlier Wednesday, the PA published a statement saying that Shabaneh's allegations were part of an Israeli conspiracy aimed at undermining Abbas because of his refusal to return to the negotiation table unconditionally.

The fact that the 'Palestinian Authority' has no power to make arrests in Jerusalem is irrelevant. They have kidnapped 'Palestinians' from Jerusalem before and taken them elsewhere to arrest them.

I have some sympathy for Shabaneh and would love to see his material exposed. The 'Palestinian Authority' deserves any opprobrium they get for this. Many of you would be shocked to know how many billions (yes, billions) of dollars the Fatah leadership has socked away in Swiss bank accounts.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:03 AM