Israel Reaches a Choke Point as Fatah and Hamas Make a Unity Deal

The "Obama diplomacy" of US Secretary of State John Kerry has had, shall we say, "unintended consequences." Or should we call it "collateral damage"? Whatever we call it, the truth is that the only visible result of the Obama-Kerry diplomatic effort to achieve an Israel-Palestine peace accord is to drive Fatah and Hamas into each others' arms. On Wednesday, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas announced the joint Fatah-Hamas decision to form a unity government, bringing the Islamic militant Hamas movement, which Israel and the West consider a terrorist group, into the less extremist Fatah movement that supports Abbas and the PA. Kerry phoned Abbas to express US "disappointment" in the Hamas alliance. ~~~~~ Responding quickly on Thursday, Israel halted the peace talks in response to the Hamas-Fatah deal, saying that it could not negotiate with any group that includes Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and has stated its express goal of destroying Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused western-backed PA President Abbas of forming an alliance with "a terrorist organisation that calls for the destruction of Israel" and hinted at further retaliatory measures. While it was Netanyahu who announced the break in the peace negotiations, after a long ministerial meeting, some ministers were surprised by the announcement, leading analysts to ask if it was the Israeli security cabinet that called for the break. ~~~~~ The Fatah-Hamas unity agreement brings together Abbas' Fatah movement - the dominant group in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that governs the PA parts of the West Bank - and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, whose residents voted Hamas into power in 2007 and have since felt the negative effects of being controlled by the terrorist group that has not held a second free election. The US and European Union, which classify Hamas as a terrorist group, may, according to The Guardian, review their policies in light of the unity deal. Key differences separate Fatah and Hamas -- Fatah/PA recognises Israel, accepts a two-state solution to the conflict, and co-operates on security with Israel by arresting Hamas activists. Hamas, for its part, refuses to recognise Israel, although it is prepared for a long-term truce and has observed a ceasefire in Gaza. Even though it is hostile to the idea of a two- state solution, Hamas is sometimes ambiguous about whether it would accept it. ~~~~~ The Fatah-Hamas reconciliation has grown out of the failure of the peace talks. It may help Abbas, who faces challenges to his authority by those who reject his moderate approach - his enemies call it "collaboration" - which has got the Palestinians nothing except more Israeli settlements. The move toward unity and the promise of elections within six months will be popular. Hamas, the weaker party, has suffered from its policies that led to economic deterioration in Gaza and the loss of Egypt's support after the overthrow of the Moslem Brotherhood, although it ostensibly still has connections to Hezbollah and Iran. "Hamas," according to a veteran Palestine observer, "has got nowhere else to go, nothing better to do." Abbas, who succeeded Yasser Arafat as PLO leader, has insisted that any reconciliation with Hamas will be on his terms and that he will continue to lead any peace negotiations. Western diplomats insist that this is how it will have to be if the US and EU, which bankroll the PA and fear the consequences of its collapse, are to continue paying. The EU said it welcomed the Palestinian unity agreement but said its priority is still the negotiations with Israel. The US State Department said : "Any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties. If a new Palestinian government is formed, we will assess it based on its adherence to the stipulations above, its policies and actions, and will determine any implications for our assistance based on US law." ~~~~~ Dear readers, John Kerry has spent nine months trying to cajole the Israelis and Palestinians into an agreement about their conflict's most difficult issues. But, recently, the two sides have moved even further apart over Israel prisoner releases, PA moves to join UN bodies and Israeli settlement expansions. The US insists there is still some chance of bringing the two sides back to the talks. The peace negotiations had been scheduled to expire next Tuesday on April 29, and even before the unity agreement, there was little hope of their being extended. Now, while a formula may yet be found to save the talks, they are on the brink of total collapse and the search is on for new ideas. John Kerry's efforts have exposed fundamental differences between Israel and Palestine : sharing Jerusalem / resolving the situation of millions of descendants of Palestinian refugees / agreeing on how to negotiate borders. The sides were nowhere close to agreement, and Abbas has now warned that if the talks fail, Israel may have to take over the management of the West Bank because he is threatening to dissolve the PA, suggesting that if Israel is serious, it should agree on borders first - knowing full well that this could never be accepted by Israel. It seems clear that the push made by Kerry and Obama to get Israel to agree to anything and everything just to keep Abbas and the Palestinians in the talks has doubly backfired. It gave Abbas the false hope that he could ask for, or do, anything and the US would agree and push Israel into acceptance. But on the settlements question and the prisoners release issue, Israel finally reached its choke point. So, in a further effort to corner Israel, Fatah and Hamas joined forces, hoping this would be welcomed on the world stage and isolate Israel. But, Netanyahu and his government acted quickly to stop the game - keep in mind that three prior Palestinian unity efforts have failed - and Obama and Kerry are actually supportong Israel, although the EU is more ambivalent. Can this latest Abbas move and the decisive Israeli response lead to a more realistic future in the Israel-Palestine peace talks? It depends entirely on whether Barack Obama has learned his lesson and John Kerry can negotiate his way through the always murky PLO waters with a reasonable agenda that has Israel's prior agreement.