April 24, 2014 | Quote
Palestinian Authority Chooses Terror Over Peace, Again
The Post reports: “Rival Palestinian political factions on Wednesday announced a surprise reconciliation deal and plans for a unified government, upending U.S.-backed peace talks with Israel just days before a deadline to end or extend the most substantive negotiations in years. The deal would reunite the moderate Fatah faction in the West Bank, which has been negotiating with Israel, with the radical Hamas faction, which refuses to recognize Israel’s legitimacy. Hamas is blamed for allowing near-daily rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip territory it controls.” (It is not just blamed; it is actually launching the attacks.)
How does the State Department react? You know this is going to be bad, and it is: “We’ll be watching what steps are taken, but this certainly is disappointing and raises concerns about our efforts to extend the negotiations.” Thunk.Disappointing? That is one way to put it. But the notion that it could disrupt nonexistent negotiations or that the negotiations had been “the most substantive” in years is farcical.
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Other Middle East experts agree that the United States cannot conduct business as usual so long as Abbas has signed up with Hamas. Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies e-mails Right Turn: “Abbas has threatened to join hands with Hamas several times over the years. Each time, the two sides have failed to implement. So, it’s important to remember that even though an agreement is signed, that doesn’t mean that Abbas will implement it. If Abbas pulls the trigger and brings Hamas into the PLO/PA fold, it would signal an immediate end for U.S. financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority and would almost certainly prompt a re-designation of the PLO [as a terrorist group].” Even if Abbas doesn’t mesh the PA and Hamas, it certainly is a clarifying moment. “But even if he doesn’t pull the trigger, Abbas has now sent a dangerous message — that Hamas’ violence and radical ideology is acceptable to the PLO, ” says Schanzer. “The whole episode raises questions about the diplomatic foundations of this recent round of peace talks, not to mention whether Abbas was a viable peace partner [in] the first place.”