Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas holds a leadership meeting in Ramallah, in the West Bank, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman

Last week, a 16-year-old Palestinian attempted to murder an Israeli who stopped at a Palestinian shop to make a purchase from Palestinians.

Even though the stabbing was recorded by security cameras and was seen by the whole world (the video can be seen here), the terrorist “should not be condemned,” according to Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas’ senior adviser, Mahmoud Al-Habbash.

Instead, Israel should be blamed, because the PA views every murder and attempted murder of any Israeli as a justified “reaction” to Israeli policy:

Egyptian Al-Qahera News TV host: “These published images are of a stabbing operation [i.e., terror attack] carried out by a young Palestinian against [an Israeli] settler…”

Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “The responsibility for all this lies with the Israeli policy adopted by this extremist government. Likewise, the settlers, who are a tool or one of the arms of this extremist government, bear responsibility for everything that’s going on. They are responsible for the tension. They are the ones who increasingly provoke the anger of the Palestinians against the occupation [i.e., Israel]… The reaction [i.e., the attempted murder] should not be condemned, rather the perpetrator [Israel] of the [original] crime should be condemned first and foremost.”

[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, YouTube channel, Aug. 23, 2026]

The Israeli, Elhanan Hananya, had done nothing more than stop along a road used by Israelis and Palestinians to buy from a Palestinian shop. The attacker nevertheless stabbed him in front of his pregnant wife and children.

Habbash’s justification for the attack was also strikingly similar to what he told the very same Egyptian television channel just eight months earlier, after a Palestinian terrorist murdered two Israelis. Then too, Abbas’ senior advisor placed responsibility squarely on Israel.

Coming from such a senior PA advisor (remember “What happened on Oct. 7 is a legitimate thing, okay?”), it reveals the attitude of the Palestinian Authority, which is viewed by the West as a moderate alternative to Hamas toward terror against Israelis: Palestinian terrorists are absolved of responsibility, their attacks are legitimized as reactions to Israeli policy, and Israel is blamed for the Israelis that the Palestinians stab and murder.

Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is the Founder and Director of PMW, where a version of this article first appeared.