Is the Abbas/Hamas reconciliation a good or bad thing for Israel?

By Ted Belman

Israel reacted with horror and suspended talks, mind you, not ended them. She also will now impose sanctions, but not enough to threaten the viability of the PA and she has castigated the US for its feeble response (Report: Israel Furious At US For ‘Feebleness’ on Hamas Deal). Israel is no better.

It must be kept in mind that while everyone is silent about Gaza during current discussions, everyone understands that if a deal is struck that the next focus is to bring Hamas into the deal. Obviously an impossible dream on both accounts. In previous negotiations, Annapolis etc., there was considerable talk about the need to make Gaza contiguous with “Palestine” were it to be created. Furthermore a road is planned for this purpose and work is proceeding on it even though no one is talking about it. You will also remember that both the EU and the US have approached Hamas over the years to bring it in from the cold, notwithstanding that they have declared it a terrorist organization. Obama gave Hamas money and has supported the lifting of the blockade. Obama embraced the Muslim Brotherhood which is tantamount to embracing Hamas. This would account for the feeble US response.

Haaretz asks Why is the Palestinian reconciliation driving Israel into a panic?.

Israel after all signed the Oslo agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organization, not with the Palestinian state. The PLO was defined as a terror organization and the talks with it took place before it recognized Israel and announced the renunciation of the armed resistance.

Hamas is not part of the PLO, but other Palestinian groups, known as the “rejectionist organizations,” are an inseparable part of it. Yet Israel never demanded that these groups recognize it before it signed the Oslo agreements.

The drive for reconciliation is driven by economic necessity for Hamas and by political necessity for Abbas. He doesn’t want this stumbling block on the way to recognition.

Here too lies the dilemma that Abbas is placing on Israel and the United States’ doorstep. If they want to advance a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, they cannot demand to neutralize Hamas and at the same time claim that Abbas does not represent all of the Palestinians.

Israel doesn’t negotiate with Hamas because it doesn’t recognize it as a state of the Jews or even as a state.

 But the Palestinian Authority also doesn’t recognize Israel as a Jewish state, yet Israel conducts peace talks with it all the same.

This points out Israel’s double standards and hypocrisy.

Another contradiction in Israel’s position pertains to Hamas. Israel objected to talks with Hamas because it was a terror group and served as an Iranian agent in the region. But when Hamas cut itself off from Iran and moved to join the PLO, Israel used it as an excuse to stop the peace negotiations with the Palestinians and blame Abbas for the talks’ collapse.

Guy Bechor writes Ending illusion of peace-seeking Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to join forces with the Hamas terror organization, whether it happens or not, is nothing other than a slap in the face of anyone who saw him as a “partner,” and especially the American administration, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union. It can even be seen as humiliation.

He asks.

For what purpose have the EU and US for years been administering artificial respiration to the entity named the Palestinian Authority, in the form of billions of dollars? For what purpose has this Authority received close to 7 billion euros in cash from the EU since 1994? It was for the purpose of curbing Hamas.

And for what purpose did European countries support the “observer status of the Palestinian state” at the UN, if not for the purpose of weakening Hamas?

So now, after all that money and all that great effort, this Authority will actually unite with Hamas, and perhaps even cede rule to them in an election.

He explains,

This is simply scandalous, but there is an explanation. Until now, European money has been flowing to the PA unconditionally and unsupervised, but new legislation by the European Parliament plenum on April 3, 2014 has set some conditions. This effectively puts an end to the PA, as its aid to terrorists will be exposed. This is the reason for Abbas running into Hamas’ arms – the knowledge that the money will dry up regardless.

And now? If the PA sets up a joint government with Hamas, it will be impossible to transfer even one cent to it, because Hamas is officially a terrorist organization, both in Washington and Europe.

Others are implicated,

Clearly, Israel will also have to stop all fund transfers to an official terrorist entity, as there is no other legal option, including offsetting debts to the Israel Electric Corporation (more than NIS 1.4 billion, or $400 million) – and to many Israeli creditors. The Europeans may want to consider claiming back the money spent by the PA, and using it to help their unemployed.

Unity with Hamas is a slap in the face for many of the Arab regimes too, as it is basically a shift to cooperating with their enemy, the Muslim Brotherhood. It is an insult to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other states that see radical Islam as an existential threat.

Both Fatah and Hamas have turned into detested entities among the Palestinian and Arab publics alike. There is no support, no interest, no hope; the Arab regimes are not willing to fund the PA if the European-American-Israeli money stops, and so with no other choice they have fallen into one other’s arms.

The move also is an attempt to halt their shared enemy of Salafist and Jihadist forces. The latter already number tens of thousands of members, and they are the future. Both Hamas and Fatah know that.

And concludes,

It’s a good thing that this unity is taking place now, whether it is implemented or not, as the intention is clear. Just imagine what would have happened if Israel had transferred territories in the center of the country to the Palestinians, and then the unity with Hamas and Jihad had taken place, with the latter two even controlling these territories.

Better to deal with reality than an illusion. Part of that reality is that the world wants Israel to make peace with both the PLO and Hamas even though they are both terrorist organizations who want to see the end of Israel.