Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations

    JERUSALEM, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli defense establishment proposes to prevent the Palestinians from holding elections amid worries that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) might disintegrate when the presidency of Mahmoud Abbas ends in January,local daily Ha'aretz reported Sunday.

    Palestinian factions have not reached an agreement on whether Abbas will remain in office for another year or the Palestinians will hold parallel elections of their president and legislature early next year.

    Should Abbas leave office, he might "disappear" from the political arena, which could trigger a collapse of the PNA, Israel's negotiating partner, and could increase the risk of a two-state solution being taken off the table, Israeli defense experts were quoted as saying in a paper to be presented to the cabinet next month.

    Meanwhile, should the Palestinians hold parliamentary elections, Gaza Strip ruler Hamas, which Israel blacklists as a terrorist group, might win out again as it did in 2006, cautioned the paper, which serves as part of the National Security Council's annual situation assessment.

    Highlighting the two scenarios, which do not accord with Israeli interests, the paper recommends "preventing elections in the PNA, even at the cost of a confrontation with the U.S. and the international community," according to Ha'aretz.

    The paper also advises the government to continue efforts to isolate and weaken Hamas, said the report, adding that it also stresses that Israel must avoid a war of attrition or a two-front conflict, yet should send a "firm message of deterrence."

    However, if the clashes escalate, Israel must "consider embarking on a broad confrontation to hit the enemy severely and end the clash within a short time, and with as clear a result as possible," according to the paper.