Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman wrote to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton this week accusing Abbas of "acting to undermine attempts to renew the peace process."
He called for elections to choose "a new, legitimate, hopefully realistic" leadership.
Palestinian Legislative Council member Ashraf Juma, from Abbas's Fatah party, said all factions should unite in condemning Lieberman's remarks.
Palestinian politics must take account of these remarks and find a new way to deal with Israel's policies, he told Ma'an, alluding to the ongoing efforts to open negotiations with Israel.
Instead, "the Palestinian people should organize mass rallies to support Mahmoud Abbas," Juma said.
The legislator said he had long warned of an Israeli policy to undermine Palestinian diplomacy by conspiring against Abbas.
Sticking to the program
Meanwhile, Fatah spokesman in Gaza Fayez Abu Aita said continuous incitement against Abbas would not deter him from his political program to establish independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Abu Aita told a news conference that threats against Abbas will only create great solidarity among Palestinians and their leadership.
Lieberman just wants to mislead Palestinians to oppose Abbas, Abu Aita said.
Head of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouthi also added his condemnation of Lieberman's remarks, echoing comments by PLO official Hana Ashrawi that they are fundamentally racist.
Barghouthi said Israel's inflammatory politics, headed by Lieberman, aimed to heighten tension, terrorism and violence against Palestinians.
He called on the international community to take punitive measures against Israel.
Not representative
An official in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Reuters on Wednesday that Lieberman's letter did not represent the position of the Israeli government.
"While the Palestinian leadership under Abu Mazen (Abbas) has created difficulties that have prevented the resumption of talks, Israel is committed to working with the Palestinian leadership to restarting the dialogue, and of course Israel does not interfere in election processes in other places," added the official, who asked not to be named.
The Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Thursday that Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak said in a private discussion that Lieberman's letter was a mistake.
The report quoted Barak saying: "This letter harms Israeli national interests, and will aggravate circumstances with the Palestinians. This is deeply misguided policy."
Source: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=513896
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