A top Palestinian official who recovered from COVID-19 is facing charges of hypocrisy because he was treated at a hospital in Jerusalem.
Israel responded to the request from Saeb Erekat immediately, sending soldiers to accompany a vehicle evacuating him from Jericho to Hadassah Hospital, where Israeli doctors worked round the clock to save his life.
Bassam Tawil, a Muslim Arab writing from the Middle East for the Gatestone Institute, pointed out that Erekat “spent the past two decades calling for the boycott and isolation of Israel.”
“In the past few months, Erekat, a PLO leader who previously headed the Palestinian negotiating team with Israel, came out against the agreements to normalize relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain,” he wrote.
Further, he accused the UAE and Bahrain of betraying the Palestinians by making peace with Israel.
When it was confirmed he had COVID-19, he turned down offers of medical help from Jordan.
“Instead, when his health deteriorated, Erekat, along with his family and the PA leadership, ran to Israel for help. Israel responded by immediately dispatching Israeli medics and soldiers to Jericho to evacuate Erekat to Hadassah Hospital, where Israeli doctors worked to save his life,” Tawil said.
Those actions now have been noted by many Arab commentators.
“As it turns out, some Arabs are not oblivious to the monstrous hypocrisy of the Palestinian leadership,” Tawil wrote. “These Arabs view the hospitalization of Erekat in an Israeli hospital as yet another sign of the double-talk and lies of Palestinian leaders, who, day in and day out, incite their people against Israel — but who run to Israel whenever they feel the need.
“Particularly outrageous is the fact that Erekat was admitted to an Israeli hospital for the best medical treatment at a time when the Palestinian government is denying ordinary Palestinians permits to go to Israeli hospitals,” he said.
The boycott, he wrote, apparently “does not apply when the life of a senior official like Erekat, who is the secretary-general of the PLO, is at stake. Erekat did not want to go to Jordan. He did not ask Egypt or any other Arab country for help. His appeal went straight to his Israeli neighbors — who, without pausing for a second, saved his life. This was probably the only wise decision Erekat ever made.”
Lebanese journalist Nadim Koteich wondered why Palestinians “still do not have a modern medical facility more than 25 years after the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.”
Tawil reported the London-based Al-Arab newspaper, “referring to the medical treatment the Palestinian official received in Israel, said that the fact that Erekat chose to go to an Israeli, and not a Jordanian hospital, was a sign that he ‘has full confidence in the Israelis despite his public statements against them.'”
And Egyptian media personality Ahmed Moussa said: “Many people are now asking why was Erekat transferred to an Israeli hospital? Just a few days ago Erekat was attacking Arabs for establishing relations with Israel. But now he has chosen to be treated in an Israeli hospital. Egypt and Jordan have the best hospitals. Isn’t it strange that Erekat chose an Israeli, and not Arab hospital? The Palestinians need to explain to the public why he preferred to go to an Israeli hospital. I am not the only one asking this question. They must give us an answer.”
Tawail suggested Erekat “might also consider thanking the Israeli doctors who worked around the clock to keep him alive.”
“Additionally, he can thank the Israeli medical teams and soldiers who escorted him from his home in Jericho to Jerusalem. Finally, Erekat might inform the world that he regrets having called for the boycott of Israel — the country he knew he could turn to save his life, no matter what harm he had inflicted upon it.”
