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Download The Palestinian president defended his policy of security cooperation with Israel in a politically risky speech to senior Arab officials on Wednesday, even as Israeli forces escalated their most extensive West Bank crackdown in years in response to the alleged abduction of three Israeli teenagers. President Mahmoud Abbas' comments were quickly condemned at home and shone a light on one of his most controversial policies - working with the Israeli military to contain the Hamas militant group, which Israel accuses of carrying out the kidnapping. In a speech to Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia, Abbas condemned the apparent kidnapping, saying it had caused heavy damage to the Palestinians and that his forces were helping search for the missing teens. "We are still looking and searching to find out who carried out such an act," Abbas said. "He who committed such an act wants to destroy us," he said, apparently referring to the fragile Hamas-Fatah unity government created on June 2. Abbas said he hoped to rescue the teens "because these youths are human beings, and we want to protect human lives." While accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of exploiting the crisis to inflict pain on the Palestinians, he also said coordination with Israel is in Palestinian interests. "We don't want to go back to chaos and destruction, as we did in the second (Palestinian) uprising," he told the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. | 
