Former PA minister Abu Zaida denies seeking to influence Israeli election

Former PA minister Sufian Abu Zaida has denied seeking to influence the Israeli election scheduled for late October. His denial concerned his role in conveying a warning from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to Israel weeks before the October 7 attack.

Abu Zaida said he had not chosen when information about Sinwar's message appeared in Israeli media. He described himself as a mediator and said he was not responsible for when the information was released or how it was presented.

Abu Zaida said his responsibility was limited to passing Sinwar's message to the Israelis. In his account, Sinwar said he would put cards on the table before the end of September that would dramatically shake the negotiations, and that the Israelis should prepare to empty the prisons. Abu Zaida also denied any intention to interfere in Israel's elections.

Asked what Sinwar meant by the cards mentioned in his threat, Abu Zaida said he did not know.

Abu Zaida's mediation through back channels between Hamas and Israel lasted about a year before Hamas's October 7 attack. The efforts sought a deal to exchange two Israeli soldiers and two civilians held by Hamas in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, together with steps to ease humanitarian conditions in the strip.