PA dismayed by lack of support over annexation, urges ‘jihad’ against Israel: reports

Should Israel go ahead with the plan to apply its laws to a number of West Bank areas, Egypt, as well as several Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, are planning to limit their response to purely symbolic condemnations, Israel Hayom reported Monday.

The newspaper cites diplomatic sources as saying that a corresponding message has already been delivered to Israeli officials, adding that the countries will have to keep an eye on the grassroots reaction on their streets.

The apparent lack of active support from the Arab states — with Jordan as a notable exception — has reportedly been met with dismay by Palestinian Authority officials.

According to the Palestinian Media Watch NGO, PA-affiliated TV channels have been running a video including a song with an explicit call for “jihad” — a holy war — against Israel until “it is too late.”

The video, which includes the narrator urging the audience to “explicitly declare your rejection of the annexation plan,” wraps up with a song reportedly used by the PA in 2000 as a call to intifada, a violent uprising.

The song, as reported by the NGO Friday, alleges that the “oppressors” have treaded too far — and “therefore, Jihad is necessary, and self-sacrifice is necessary.”

The Palestinian Media Watch notes that the episode above is one of the many displays of frustration with the Arab world notable both in Palestinian media and in statements from PA officials.

In the meantime, while the application of sovereignty could have been put to vote back on July 1, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said Monday morning the move was not on the Israeli agenda for at least the next few days.