Israel Matzav

Six weeks later: Hamas gained nothing from flotilla

According to one US official, various Hamas leaders appeared willing to play the political game, but not enough to make a difference.

As Hamas representative Ahmed Bahr told the Egyptian daily Al-Masry al-Youm on June 20, the group wants a deal “that gives Palestinians their dignity back, which rules out the Quartet conditions and those stipulated by the US.” Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan put it (perhaps unintentionally) well in a June 28 interview, claiming that he had personally convinced Hamas to adjust its rejectionist posture “to a certain extent” – in other words, not far enough.

As a result, Hamas has no more international legitimacy today than it did before the flotilla episode.

Symptomatic of this is the statement issued by the G-8 countries, including Russia, at the close of their recent Canadian summit.

The section on the peace process makes no mention of Hamas at all.

Instead, it reaffirms the goal of Israel and a Palestinian state “living side by side in peace and security,” welcomes Israel’s decision to investigate the flotilla incident and adopt “a new policy” toward Gaza, balances “the needs of Gaza’s population” with “the legitimate security concerns of Israel,” and urges “the strengthening of Palestinian Authority institutions” – all at the expense, at least implicitly, of Hamas.

And on Monday, speaking in Jerusalem, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov noted that Moscow would continue to “engage” with Hamas, but did not call for the group’s inclusion in any other diplomatic discussions.

Cairo remains very uncomfortable with Hamas on its border, yet has so far been ineffective in supporting any alternative arrangement. Its desultory attempt to dilute Hamas’s power in Gaza by mediating a new unity agreement with Fatah has failed.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:15 PM