Israel has sent messages to some countries that President Mahmoud Abbas is not its partner and it is thus looking for a new security and economy partner, a PLO official said Tuesday. Saeb Erekat said Israel hoped to destroy the Palestinian Authority and the peace process. He added that Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was working to convert the PA’s purpose into a security function while paying salaries in order to keep the situation calm in the occupied territories. He added that the Israeli government stripped the PA of its political, security, economic, legal and geographical mandate when it issued the military decision 1650 in April 2010.