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| Pressure Grows in Hunt for Kidnapped Israelis | Pressure Grows in Hunt for Kidnapped Israelis |
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| JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday denounced the abduction of three Israeli teenagers and vowed to help catch the kidnappers, as pressure mounted on him and threatened to collapse his fraying reconciliation pact with the militant Islamic movement Hamas. | JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday denounced the abduction of three Israeli teenagers and vowed to help catch the kidnappers, as pressure mounted on him and threatened to collapse his fraying reconciliation pact with the militant Islamic movement Hamas. |
| With Israel intensifying its crackdown on Hamas and insisting that it is behind the abductions, Mr. Abbas said at a conference of Islamic leaders in Saudi Arabia that “whoever carried out this act wants to destroy us.” He did not mention Hamas, but he made clear that the Palestinian Authority was assisting Israel in its search for the teenagers. | With Israel intensifying its crackdown on Hamas and insisting that it is behind the abductions, Mr. Abbas said at a conference of Islamic leaders in Saudi Arabia that “whoever carried out this act wants to destroy us.” He did not mention Hamas, but he made clear that the Palestinian Authority was assisting Israel in its search for the teenagers. |
| “It’s in our interest that there is security coordination between us and Israel in order to protect ourselves, to protect our people,” he said. “We do not want to go back to the anarchy or destruction that happened in the second intifada.” | |
| Analysts said that while Mr. Abbas benefited from Israel’s arrest of scores of Hamas leaders who have long been his rivals, he faced public outrage over the coordination and might have trouble containing unrest if Israel’s aggressive campaign of night raids, home searches and checkpoints continued. | Analysts said that while Mr. Abbas benefited from Israel’s arrest of scores of Hamas leaders who have long been his rivals, he faced public outrage over the coordination and might have trouble containing unrest if Israel’s aggressive campaign of night raids, home searches and checkpoints continued. |
| Zakaria Al-Qaq, a security expert at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem, said Mr. Abbas was “trying to show he is cooperative, willing, helpful” and “behaving as a statesman” to earn credibility with the United States and other countries, but in doing so, he risked “being discredited in the eyes of his own public.” | |
| Hamas officials lashed out at Mr. Abbas, highlighting the friction between the supposed Palestinian partners. One, Salah Al-Bardaweel, said Mr. Abbas sounded like a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. Another, Yahia Moussa, said he had “broken the red lines” and was “no longer interested in his people or his Palestinian cause.” | Hamas officials lashed out at Mr. Abbas, highlighting the friction between the supposed Palestinian partners. One, Salah Al-Bardaweel, said Mr. Abbas sounded like a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. Another, Yahia Moussa, said he had “broken the red lines” and was “no longer interested in his people or his Palestinian cause.” |
| A third, Sami Abu Zuhri, issued a statement saying Mr. Abbas’s defense of security coordination was “unjustifiable” and harmed reconciliation, adding, “We emphasize our people’s right to defend themselves and counter the occupation’s crimes with possible means.” | A third, Sami Abu Zuhri, issued a statement saying Mr. Abbas’s defense of security coordination was “unjustifiable” and harmed reconciliation, adding, “We emphasize our people’s right to defend themselves and counter the occupation’s crimes with possible means.” |
| The three teenagers — Naftali Fraenkel, 16, a dual Israeli-American citizen; his friend Gilad Shaar, also 16; and Eyal Yifrach, 19 — disappeared June 12 while hitchhiking home from their yeshivas in West Bank settlements. Palestinian leaders have condemned Israeli actions since as “collective punishment.” | The three teenagers — Naftali Fraenkel, 16, a dual Israeli-American citizen; his friend Gilad Shaar, also 16; and Eyal Yifrach, 19 — disappeared June 12 while hitchhiking home from their yeshivas in West Bank settlements. Palestinian leaders have condemned Israeli actions since as “collective punishment.” |
| Israel has tightened checkpoints around Hebron, the West Bank’s largest city, all but closed crossings into the Gaza Strip and canceled visits to Palestinians in Israeli prisons. By Wednesday morning, Israeli troops had arrested 240 Palestinians, including top Hamas politicians and 51 former prisoners who were released in 2011 as part of an exchange for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier Hamas militants held captive for five years in Gaza. | Israel has tightened checkpoints around Hebron, the West Bank’s largest city, all but closed crossings into the Gaza Strip and canceled visits to Palestinians in Israeli prisons. By Wednesday morning, Israeli troops had arrested 240 Palestinians, including top Hamas politicians and 51 former prisoners who were released in 2011 as part of an exchange for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier Hamas militants held captive for five years in Gaza. |
| Military officials said soldiers had searched 800 homes, caves and Hamas-affiliated charities, and news media outlets across the West Bank, confiscating tens of thousands of dollars, computers, grenades and machine guns. | Military officials said soldiers had searched 800 homes, caves and Hamas-affiliated charities, and news media outlets across the West Bank, confiscating tens of thousands of dollars, computers, grenades and machine guns. |
| “We have two efforts going on in parallel: The first is to bring back the boys, and second is to take a toll on Hamas,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman. “It’s going to strike a substantial blow on Hamas — its infrastructure, its institutions and everything that keeps it going.” | “We have two efforts going on in parallel: The first is to bring back the boys, and second is to take a toll on Hamas,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman. “It’s going to strike a substantial blow on Hamas — its infrastructure, its institutions and everything that keeps it going.” |
| On Wednesday, the Israeli authorities approved 162 new apartments in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa, which Palestinians and much of the world consider an illegal settlement. | On Wednesday, the Israeli authorities approved 162 new apartments in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa, which Palestinians and much of the world consider an illegal settlement. |
| Early Thursday morning, Israel bombed five sites in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the military, hours after militants based in Gaza fired rockets into southern Israel for the fifth day in a row, damaging a house. | |
| The Israeli campaign was not limited to Hamas or the Hebron area. Mustafa Barghouti, who helped negotiate the April reconciliation pact between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas, said the Jenin headquarters of his Palestinian National Initiative, a secular party that advocates nonviolent protest, was ransacked early Monday, with soldiers destroying furniture and seizing hard drives. | The Israeli campaign was not limited to Hamas or the Hebron area. Mustafa Barghouti, who helped negotiate the April reconciliation pact between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas, said the Jenin headquarters of his Palestinian National Initiative, a secular party that advocates nonviolent protest, was ransacked early Monday, with soldiers destroying furniture and seizing hard drives. |
| He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “using this issue to undermine what was achieved in reconciliation.” | |
| “What they are doing now is nothing but acts of political punishment,” Mr. Barghouti said of the Israelis. | “What they are doing now is nothing but acts of political punishment,” Mr. Barghouti said of the Israelis. |
| Jonathan Spyer, a senior research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, said it was clear that “Netanyahu wants to use this kidnapping as a way to accomplish something which he wanted to accomplish anyway, which is the serious degradation of Hamas activity in the West Bank.” | Jonathan Spyer, a senior research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, said it was clear that “Netanyahu wants to use this kidnapping as a way to accomplish something which he wanted to accomplish anyway, which is the serious degradation of Hamas activity in the West Bank.” |
| “Very quietly, and he won’t say this out loud, Abbas is probably very pleased with this as well,” Mr. Spyer added. “Israel and P.A. security officials share the concerns with regards to Hamas ambitions and what Hamas could pull off in the West Bank in the months ahead. There is a desire to push them back a little.” | “Very quietly, and he won’t say this out loud, Abbas is probably very pleased with this as well,” Mr. Spyer added. “Israel and P.A. security officials share the concerns with regards to Hamas ambitions and what Hamas could pull off in the West Bank in the months ahead. There is a desire to push them back a little.” |
| Mr. Abbas’s office on Monday issued a statement condemning the kidnapping and the Israeli crackdown. But he went further on Wednesday in a speech broadcast from Saudi Arabia on Palestinian television and other Arabic channels, saying, “We can’t endure such operations.” | Mr. Abbas’s office on Monday issued a statement condemning the kidnapping and the Israeli crackdown. But he went further on Wednesday in a speech broadcast from Saudi Arabia on Palestinian television and other Arabic channels, saying, “We can’t endure such operations.” |
| An official in Mr. Netanyahu’s office, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said that Mr. Abbas’s “words will be judged” by the Palestinian Authority’s on-the-ground assistance in finding the teenagers, and that “the real test is the cancellation of the agreement with Hamas.” | An official in Mr. Netanyahu’s office, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said that Mr. Abbas’s “words will be judged” by the Palestinian Authority’s on-the-ground assistance in finding the teenagers, and that “the real test is the cancellation of the agreement with Hamas.” |
| Amid the crisis, reconciliation is suspended — or falling apart. Mr. Bardaweel, the Hamas official in Gaza, said in a telephone interview that the new ministers “do not want to communicate with Hamas,” adding, “It’s clear they are terrified and hesitant because of the Israeli threats.” | Amid the crisis, reconciliation is suspended — or falling apart. Mr. Bardaweel, the Hamas official in Gaza, said in a telephone interview that the new ministers “do not want to communicate with Hamas,” adding, “It’s clear they are terrified and hesitant because of the Israeli threats.” |
| Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, said that “reconciliation is certainly the first casualty on the Palestinian side of this.” Israel’s crackdown will most likely increase Hamas’s popularity in the short term, he said, and the longer it lasts, the more Mr. Abbas “has to worry about losing control.” | Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, said that “reconciliation is certainly the first casualty on the Palestinian side of this.” Israel’s crackdown will most likely increase Hamas’s popularity in the short term, he said, and the longer it lasts, the more Mr. Abbas “has to worry about losing control.” |
| “There is no doubt that Abbas feels the pressure,” Mr. Shikaki said. “Abbas feels that he made a deal with Hamas, and now Hamas is putting the deal and the P.A. and himself in a bad light and providing Israel with a golden opportunity to paint him negatively at a time when he really needs international support.” | “There is no doubt that Abbas feels the pressure,” Mr. Shikaki said. “Abbas feels that he made a deal with Hamas, and now Hamas is putting the deal and the P.A. and himself in a bad light and providing Israel with a golden opportunity to paint him negatively at a time when he really needs international support.” |