Israel Matzav

Shin Bet Chief Diskin meets with Arab leaders interested in keeping Hamas out of 'Palestinian' government

The London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported this morning that Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin met this week in Aqaba with 'moderate Palestinian President' Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen, and representatives of Egypt, Jordan and an 'unnamed' Gulf country, who are interested in forming a new 'Palestinian' government without Hamas. According to the Jerusalem Post:

Arab officials do not want Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh - whom they consider moderate - to continue serving as PA prime minister, because they see him as ultimately subordinate to Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashal. The Arab officials would prefer to see an independent candidate - like Palestinian businessman Munib al-Masri - for the premiership.

The fact that they consider Haniyeh 'moderate' speaks volumes about what 'moderation' means in the Arab world. If you haven't figured out yet that this is nothing other than a power grab, listen to the rest of the report:

The report said Abbas accused Israel of trying to delay a resolution to the Gilad Shalit hostage crisis by making use of non-Egyptian mediators, including Turkey, Norway, and Spain.

The PA chairman also said Syria and Iran wanted to see the negotiations fail, and requested that talks be coordinated through him personally, because Hamas would try to take credit for any successful resolution.

And how does Abu Mazen think he is going to get Shalit released without Hamas' participation? Hamas has Shalit, and no one controls the Palestinian Authority without Hamas' approval (note that I did NOT say that Hamas controls the 'Palestinian Authority'). Abu Mazen is nothing more than another mediator.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:23 PM