Israel Matzav

Zahar's anger at Abbas is the result of Abbas' issuing a series of "presidential decrees" that undermined the powers of the Hamas cabinet. "Some of the ministries are either paralyzed or have stopped functioning because of these decrees," he said. "The Interior Ministry is totally paralyzed and is unable to provide services to the public because of these decrees and other appointments [made by Abbas]."

Zahar was referring to Abbas's decision to prevent the establishment of a new security force, consisting largely of Hamas militiamen, and the appointment of Rashid Abu Shabak, a former security commander, as director-general of internal security. Both these decisions have been openly challenged by Hamas.

These two issues, along with the severe financial crisis in the PA, were the key items on the agenda in a meeting that was held on Saturday night in Gaza City between Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The meeting, which lasted for nearly three hours, came amid increased tensions between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah party.

According to sources close to both parties, Abbas pressed Haniyeh to adopt a more "pragmatic" position toward Israel and the peace process to help resolve the financial crisis. In other words, say the magic words and the world will rain money on you - you can always revoke them later.

Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council, said the financial crisis was "politically-motivated."

He accused the previous Fatah cabinet of adding 30,000 civil servants shortly before Hamas took over. He revealed that the previous cabinet also promoted thousands of Fatah-affiliated employees after the parliamentary election, increasing the burden on the PA treasury. (I don't doubt either of those accusations by the way).

According to the Jerusalem Post, Zahar also claimed that he met with a European foreign minister during a recent trip to Arab countries, and that he believes that the EU decision to suspend all aid to Hamastan will soon be reversed (it very well might be).

But here's what may be the funniest part of all.

Zahar expressed reservations about the 2002 Saudi peace initiative, saying the Hamas cabinet had studied it thoroughly. He said the cabinet had two reservations about the initiative: recognition of Israel and normalization of ties. He added that the road map plan for peace in the Middle East was also not relevant "because Israel had already made 14 reservations about it."

What else was Hamas asked to do under the ridiculous Saudi initiative (which is a non-starter for Israel in any event)?