Labels: Donald Trump, Mahmoud al-Zahar, US presidential campaign 2016
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:14 PM
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Read the whole thing. What could go wrong?Last week, Hamas Political Bureau member Mahmoud Al-Zahar stated that Hamas wants to build an Islamic state in all of Palestine, meaning it would replace Israel:
"[Some] have said Hamas wants to create an Islamic emirate in Gaza. We won't do that, but we will build an Islamic state in Palestine, all of Palestine."[Al-Ayyam, Oct. 1, 2014]Al-Zahar further said that if Hamas had a military foothold in the West Bank as it does in the Gaza Strip it would be able to destroy Israel. He alluded to a possible future war of destruction against Israel by citing a Surah from the Quran about "the final promise", which speaks of destroying "the enemies" and "what they had taken over with [total] destruction" [Surah 17:7]:
"Al-Zahar said that if his movement [Hamas] were to 'transfer what it has or just a small part of it to the West Bank, we would be able to settle the battle of the final promise with a speed that no one can imagine.'"His expression "The final promise" is taken from Surah 17:7 of the Quran: "Then when the final promise came, [We sent your enemies]... to enter the temple in Jerusalem, as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with [total] destruction.'"(trans. Sahih International) Hamas using it in the context of Israel is promising a future war of destruction against Israel.A recent Palestinian poll shows that Hamas indeed has a strong base of support in the West Bank. Last week, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Research found that were elections to be held now between Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Haniyeh would win with 55% support compared to 38% for Abbas. Interestingly, Haniyeh would win with only 50% - 47% in Gaza but on the West Bank Hamas' Haniyeh is even stronger winning 57% to 33% over Abbas.
Labels: Hamas, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Judea and Samaria, Mahmoud al-Zahar
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:23 PM
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Labels: Fatah, Gaza, Hamas, Judea and Samaria, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Ramallah
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:28 AM
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The ISA said that interrogation of captives taken in Operation Protective Edge gave a “somewhat disturbing” picture of Hamas's use of civilians and public buildings to carry out military activity, “out of an assumption that Israel will avoid hitting them.”
In an unusual step, the ISA quoted captives and provided their names. Abd el-Rahman Baalusha from Khan Yunis said that the mosques Al-Safa and Al-Abra in Gaza City serve as staging and gathering points for terrorists.
Two captives from Bayt Lahya, Afif Jarah and Amad Jarah, said that an attack tunnel from a Bedouin village was dug from a point adjacent to a kindergarten. In case of a successful operation to abduct an Israeli, the abductee was to be broguht to the kindergarten and taken elsewhere from there.
Muhammad Kadra of Khan Yunis told interrogators that “everybody knows” that the Hamas leadership in Gaza under Ismail Haniyeh is hiding out inside Shifa Hospital, apparently in an area that is out of bounds to ordinary civilians.If Netanyahu wants to raise his rating from 38% back to 82%, going after that area of Shifa Hospital would go a long way.
Labels: Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Operation Protective Edge, Shifa Hospital, Shin Bet
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:41 PM
1 comments
Israeli air force reportedly drops new leaflets over #Gaza: "Hamas commanders hiding in underground bunkers are not safe"
— Daniel Nisman (@DannyNis) August 3, 2014
Labels: bunker busters, Gaza, Gaza City, Hamas, IAF, IDF, Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Operation Protective Edge, Shifa Hospital
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:07 PM
1 comments
According to the newspaper, Lapid said that the IDF should “take down the heads of Hamas,” including Hamas-Gaza chief Ismail Haniyeh and the head of the organization's political bureau, Khaled Meshaal.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Chairman of Yisrael Beytenu) and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Chairman of Jewish Home) supported the idea.
The prime minister opposed it.
It was decided instead to bomb the homes of the Hamas leaders even though it is known that they are not residing in them.
Diplomatic sources explained that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wants to behave in a more “measured” way, “in order to give Israel international maneuvering room.”
Netanyahu ordered the elimination of Meshaal by poison in Jordan in September, 1997, but the assassination bid failed. Jordanian security forces arrested two of the Israeli agents involved and the Mossad team found itself trapped in Amman. Israel ended up supplying an antidote to the poison that was killing Meshaal and freeing 70 jailed terrorists, including Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas.I think Netanyahu is spooked because of the Meshaal thing seventeen years ago. IDF helicopters eventually took care of Yassin.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, Mahmoud al-Zahar, targeted killings
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:44 PM
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An Israeli airstrike on Tuesday night targeted the home of senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar, security officials told the AFP news agency.
There was no one in the house, in western Gaza City, at the time the airstrike hit, the security sources and witnesses said.
Witnesses said at least two missiles hit Zahar's home, flattening the four-storey building and causing damage to the adjacent mosque and several neighboring houses.
...
Al-Zahar recently issued a direct threat against Israel, declaring that Hamas has rockets that can hit any city in Israel.
He further said that during Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, Hamas held a “dry run” in attacking Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Hamas is known to have test-fired long-range M-175 rockets that can reach Tel Aviv and even beyond that when fired from Gaza.
It is believed that Al-Zahar and the other senior leaders of Hamas are hiding in underground bunkers.Cowards - leaving civilians to absorb the consequences of his hubris. Here's hoping that their underground bunker collapses. (I'm sure much of Gaza would agree with that sentiment).
Labels: Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Mahmoud al-Zahar
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:43 AM
0 comments
Earlier, Abbas, in the context of his efforts to calm the U.S. Administration and EU governments over the unity accord, declared that the new Palestinian government would recognize Israel and reject violence. His remarks, however, have been strongly denied by Hamas leaders, who say their movement intends to pursue "jihad" against Israel.
Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy chairman of Hamas's political bureau, announced that his movement would never recognize Israel. "This is a red line that cannot be crossed," he said.
In other words, Hamas is telling everyone not to believe Abbas when he says that the Palestinian unity government will renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.
This week, further evidence emerged that Hamas has no intention of changing its ideology in the wake of the unity agreement with Abbas's Fatah faction.
Hamas's two most senior representatives, Khaled Mashaal and Mahmoud Zahar, have both made it clear that their movement is planning to continue "resistance" actions against Israel even after the formation of the unity government. They also emphasized that Hamas has no intention of dismantling its military wing, Izaddin al-Kassam, as part of the unity accord.
Asked about the possibility that Hamas would disarm, Zahar said: "Who is this crazy guy who would be able to go to the resistance groups and and ask them to hand over their weapons? Who would dare to do so?"
Zahar also disclosed that Hamas is planning to take advantage of the unity deal to move its terror attacks against Israel to the West Bank. Worse, he declared that after its men set foot in the West Bank, Hamas will target Palestinians who "collaborate" with Israel. "Who said that those who are conducting security coordination with Israel would remain forever?" he asked, referring to the Fatah-dominated security forces in the West Bank.
Zahar, who also said that Hamas would pursue the fight against Israel until the "liberation of all Palestine," is in fact sending a warning message to the Western-funded Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank. "We believe in what was mentioned in the Quran: that Palestine, all of Palestine, will be liberated," he added. "The Israeli entity should expect more from Hamas after our rockets reached Tel Aviv."And the reaction of the Americans and Europeans to this inconvenient piece of news?
The international community does not seem to be listening to what Hamas is saying.
Ignoring Hamas's declared intentions will pave the way for the movement to use the unity agreement to seize control over the Palestinian Authority and many parts of the West Bank. It will also facilitate Hamas's plans to launch terror attacks from the West Bank against Israel.
It now remains to be seen whether the U.S. Administration and EU governments, by blindly endorsing the new unity government, will help Hamas to achieve its goals.What could go wrong?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Barack Hussein Obama, European Union, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Khaled Meshaal, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Middle East peace process
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:49 PM
1 comments
Under Morsi’s rule, the Egyptian authorities granted Egyptian citizenship to thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including top Hamas officials.I'm fine with this so long as it's limited to 'Palestinians' who live in Gaza. You might recall that Jordan's King Abdullah revoked citizenship from 'Palestinians' living in Jordan in order to ensure that they don't 'give up' their 'right of return.' If Egypt behaves similarly, that would be troublesome. But in the context of the Egyptian government's dispute with the Muslim Brotherhood, I can't really see a problem with what they're doing now.
One of the Hamas leaders who received an Egyptian passport was Mahmoud Zahar, who was born to an Egyptian mother.
The Palestinian daily Al-Quds reported that the Egyptian authorities have taken effective measures to revoke the citizenship of Zahar and many other Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
The paper quoted an Egyptian source as saying that the latest measure targeted Palestinians who are “affiliated with certain Palestinian political parties or those who are connected to outlawed groups in Egypt.”
The source pointed out that Egyptian law prohibits those who obtain Egyptian citizenship from engaging in political activities or membership in political parties in the first five years.
Palestinian sources claimed last year that the Egyptian authorizes had agreed to grant citizenship to more than 50,000 Palestinians who were born to Egyptian mothers.
Labels: Egypt, Gaza plenty, Hamas, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Mohammed Morsy, Muslim Brotherhood
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:12 PM
2 comments
Speaking at a rally for Hamas supporters in Gaza City, Zahar said, “Our hands are extended to Fatah to join the program of [armed] resistance and the liberation of Palestine.”
Addressing Fatah, he added, “Come and join the program of resistance and stop wasting your time and effort. Let’s join hands and carry the rifle together.”
Zahar said that Fatah members who wish to join the “bandwagon of the triumphant, celebrate with us and become our partners are welcome.”
He claimed that the West was now displaying an understanding of Hamas’s armed resistance strategy.
“They no longer see our people as terrorists and murderers who have no respect for women and children and who only love blood,” Zahar said. “Westerners came to the Gaza Strip and saw that we are among the most civilized people.”
...
Nabil Sha’ath, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, expressed optimism regarding the prospects of achieving unity with Hamas. He said that the Palestinian Authority had released a number of Hamas members from its prisons in the West Bank.
The PA has also decided to reopen Hamas institutions in the West Bank that had been closed for security reasons, Sha’ath said.
He said that the PA leadership was prepared for “full partnership” with Hamas in any political move in the future, and added that the two sides would meet in Cairo soon to discuss ending their dispute.
Sha’ath said that Fatah and Hamas leaders have voiced satisfaction over the participation of their followers in joint celebrations and rallies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the past two weeks.
PLO Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Yusef said that Fatah and Hamas were now waiting for an invitation from Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to hold reconciliation talks in Cairo.Anyone who thought that the very real assets Israel gave up in exchange for the Oslo Accords were in exchange for anything other than a very temporary peace was fooling himself. Here's Yasser Arafat himself speaking at a Johannesburg, South Africa mosque in May 1994 calling the Oslo Accords a hudna, a temporary truce.
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, hudna, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Nabil Sha'ath, Oslo accords, Yasser Arafat
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:15 AM
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Shanna Tova, a good year to everyone.Speaking to Ma’an, Zahhar asserted that “Gaza is free of occupation, and contiguity with the outside world is easier as visitors from all over the world visited the coastal enclave.”Has anyone told the Europeans yet?
He added that one year after the disengagement local and parliamentary elections took place in 2006. “Fatah turned against the outcome of elections, a siege has been imposed and the former Egyptian regime practiced certain policies including closure of the Rafah crossing.”
Despite all of that, he said, the economic situation has improved noticeably and the Gaza Strip became self-reliant in several aspects because lands in former Israeli settlements were planted. “We are self-dependent in several aspects except petroleum and electricity.”
Asked to comment on the protests in the West Bank against the deteriorating economic conditions, Zahhar said that was a natural result of economic reliance on the United States and Israel who completely control the Palestinian economy.
The Hamas official boasted that the economic conditions in the Gaza Strip are much better than in the West Bank; “people in Gaza receive full salaries, and all the money the Ramallah government transfers goes to Fatah supporters only.”
Labels: Gaza plenty, Mahmoud al-Zahar
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:17 PM
0 comments
Iran's FARS News is claiming that Hamas 'foreign minister' Mahmoud al-Zahar is denying a BBC report that claimed that Zahar said that Hamas would not attack Israel if Israel attacks Iran. BBC Persian's website alleged in a report on Wednesday that the No. 2 Hamas official in the Gaza Strip has assured that his movement would not take any action in the face of an Israeli attack on Iran.Consider the source: Is this wishful thinking? I'd like to see a video of Zahar saying that before I believe it.
Al-Zahar strongly rejected the BBC claim as unfounded and a lie.
"Retaliation with utmost power is the position of Hamas with regard to a Zionist war on Iran," Zahar told FNA on Wednesday afternoon.
Zahar rejected the possibility of any Israeli aggression against Iran, but meantime, reiterated that Hamas will give a crushing response to not only the Zionists but also to "whoever helping them" in such an attack.
Labels: Hamas, Iranian nuclear threat, Israeli attack on Iran, Mahmoud al-Zahar
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:53 PM
0 comments
Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar has admitted that Gaza is not occupied.Senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Zahar dismissed a statement made by Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal, who claimed recently that the group will hold mass rallies against Israel within the Gaza Strip.Hmmm.
"Popular resistance is inappropriate for the Gaza Strip," al-Zahar said. "Against whom exactly would be rally? Such resistance would be fitting if Gaza was occupied." However, he claimed that all forms of resistance – including the armed kind – are appropriate for the West Bank, as it is "still under occupation."
Labels: Gaza, Mahmoud al-Zahar, occupation
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:13 PM
1 comments
Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar says that 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is not serious about reconciliation with Hamas, which is evident by his continued postponement of the process of forming a unity government, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told pan-Arab daily Asharq Alawsat in an interview published Wednesday.According to Khaled Abu Toameh, Zahar may actually be correct. But the feeling is mutual.
According to Zahar, Abbas is unfit to "meet the requirements of reconciliation," and has set untenable deadlines for the formation of a government early next year and legislative and presidential elections in May.
Zahar said the main obstacle standing in the way of Hamas-Fatah reconciliation was Abbas's reliance on what he called the "US-Israeli axis." According to the Hamas leaders, Abbas's "connection with the US" makes forming closer ties with Hamas difficult.
Hamas officials revealed that the PA security forces have arrested or summoned for interrogation 23 supporters of the Islamist movement in the past few days in violation of the understandings reached between Abbas and Mashaal. Half of the detainees were rounded up in the past 48 hours, the officials said.BWAHAHAHAHA!
...
In Ramallah, PA security forces arrested Omar Awwad, 55, and four of his sons, sources close to Hamas said. They said that they were arrested as a means of pressure to force a fifth son, Abdel Rahman, to hand himself in to PA security forces. Rahman is wanted for membership in Hamas.
In Nablus, PA security forces summoned for interrogation eight Hamas supporters who were recently released from Israeli prison, the sources said.
In Tulkarm, Bara’a Qarawi, the son of a Hamas legislator, said he would not report for interrogation after being served with a summons earlier this week.
Two university students who also received summons’s for interrogation by PA security forces said they would not comply, the sources added.
A Hamas official said that at least 93 supporters and members of the movement were being held in detention in various PA prisons. He said that 40 of the detainees were from Hebron and 20 from Nablus.
...
Fatah, for its part, accused Hamas security services of arresting and harassing Fatah supporters in the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday, Abdullah Nofal and Muhammad Nawajha, two Fatah-affiliated university students, were picked up by Hamas security officers, Fatah activists said.
The activists said that dozens of Fatah supporters have been summoned for interrogation and were being banned from leaving the Gaza Strip.
Since the beginning of the week, Hamas has also arrested four Palestinian journalists for allegedly being affiliated with Fatah. The four are Salah Abu Salah, Mahmoud Abu Riyaleh, Hani al-Agha and Ziad Awad.
A fifth journalist, Manal Khamis, has been repeatedly summoned for interrogation by Hamas security officers, who also confiscated computers and documents belonging to the journalists.
Labels: Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Mahmoud al-Zahar
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:08 AM
0 comments
Some of you may be wondering what happened to the Iron Dome system in the Ashdod area on Saturday. The IDF says its malfunction was a technical glitch. But that appears to be just one of several excuses for the system not functioning. Ashdod Mayor Yehiel Lasri said: "As far as we are aware the system was taken for calibration. We were told we would get the system back in the coming days." The IDF cited technical problems when trying to explain why the rockets were not intercepted.But instead of working on a comprehensive solution, the IDF is complaining that Hamas didn't do anything to stop the rockets.
The Home Front Command's South District Commander, Col. Doron Mor Yosef said: "The system was deployed hurriedly in light of the events and it took time before it could become operational in the relevant regions."
IDF Spokesman Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai said it was "a technical issue and not a manpower problem. Both batteries are now operational."
Deputy Ashkelon Mayor, Amram Ben-David was disappointed the Iron Dome battery was taken from the city. "I don't think a city this big should rely on miracles. The army must redeploy the system here. I also think we should response proportionately, in a language they understand. Each rocket should see an entire street in Gaza destroyed."
Two Iron Dome batteries are currently stationed in the Ashdod and the Beersheba area. The IDF has decided to keep them there in the wake of the recent escalation. Army officials stressed that the system cannot provide a comprehensive solution to the high-trajectory rocket threat.
Addressing the situation in the south, Mordechai said, "Hamas is the ruling element in Gaza, but at this stage it has remained passive."As the de facto ruler of Gaza, Hamas should be held responsible. The rockets are an act of war and should be responded to accordingly. Hamas 'Prime Minister' Ismail Haniyeh and 'Foreign Minister' Mahmoud al-Zahar should be in the IDF's crosshairs. They're long past due.
"Through various ways, direct and indirect, we are checking to see how it is working to stop the escalation," Mordechai added.
"As of now, Islamic Jihad absorbed a painful blow from the IDF's response. It has been hit and it is feeling under pressure. Until now, they have had ten [members] killed, including Sheikh Ahmed Khalil, a member of Islamic Jihad's supreme military council. They also have a number of injured," he said.
Labels: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, Hamas, Iron Dome, Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmoud al-Zahar
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:57 AM
1 comments
Hamas 'Foreign Minister' Mahmoud Zahar warns that things could get violent if 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President This is from the first link. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has no intentions of visiting the Gaza Strip in the near future, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar told London-based al-Quds al-Arabi, hinting that there may be threats on Abbas's life should he choose to do so.Or maybe Hamas itself would like Abu Mazen dead.
Zahar stressed that Hamas was not interested in jeopardizing the internal security situation in the Gaza Strip should Abbas decide to visit and cause internal Fatah violence to occur as a result of "unsettled accounts."
According to al-Quds al-Arabi, Zahar may have been referring to the ongoing conflict between the Palestinian Authority president and ex-Fatah official and strident Abbas critic Muhammad Dahlan.
Zahar also dismissed any attempts by Abbas to rekindle the stalled reconciliation process between Hamas and Fatah's leadership as futile, saying of the failed process: "the [reconciliation] agreement was completed [in Cairo], but it's implementation is defunct."But just give them a 'state' and they'll figure out later what territory it 'controls.' You mean that's not what the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States says? Oh well....
Zahar dismissed any sort of talks that have occurred between officials in Fatah and Hamas of being concerned simply with "peripheral matters."
Labels: Abu Mazen, Fatah, Hamas, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:43 PM
1 comments
The Hamas terrorist group's leaders are going underground out of fear that they will be targeted by Israel. If they are using the same hiding place as last time, that means the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Senior Hamas security and political officials have descended to underground tunnels in the fear that Israel may try to attack them, according to sources within Hamas quoted by newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi as reporting.Like rats in a sewer.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and senior official Mahmoud al-Zahar are now operating with restricted movement within the Gaza Strip, according to the report.
Labels: Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmoud al-Zahar
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:23 PM
3 comments
Hamas foreign minister Mahmoud Zahar says his organization will accept a 'Palestinian state' based on the 1967 borders... for now (Hat Tip: Stephen D). Hamas would accept a Palestinian state "on any part of Palestine," he said in an interview with Palestinian news agency Ma'an. Hamas has previously said it is willing to temporarily accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. The ultimate goal, however, would be a state of "Palestine in its entirety," Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal told Charlie Rose last year.And they actually believe that we would agree to this?
At the same time, Zahar said that Hamas would not recognize Israel, because doing so would "cancel the right of the next generation to liberate the land." He added that recognition of Israel could lead to Palestinian refugees losing their right of return.
"What will be the fate of the five million Palestinians in the diaspora?" Zahar asked.
The Hamas leader told the Palestinian news agency that his faction's unity deal with Fatah, which included maintaining a ceasefire with Israel is "part of the resistance, not a cancellation." He added that "a truce is not peace."
Zahar also said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not visit Gaza soon. One of the reasons, he said, is that he can not guarantee that "Israel will not send its infiltrators to shoot Abbas" or that some Palestinians may "come out and throw rocks at him."What could go wrong?
Labels: Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Mahmoud al-Zahar, two-state solution
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:31 PM
3 comments
Contradicting an earlier statement by Hamas 'foreign minister' Mahmoud al-Zahar, 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signaled on Thursday that peace talks with Israel would still be possible during the term of a new interim government formed as part of a unity deal with Hamas.Even if this is correct, Israel ought to be refusing to negotiate knowing that the 'interim government' could be replaced by one headed by Hamas.
Abbas said the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which he heads and to which Hamas does not belong, would still be responsible for "handling politics, negotiations."
The deal brings with it the risk of alienating the Western support that the Palestinian Authority has enjoyed. Azzam al-Ahmad, the Fatah negotiator, said that Salam Fayyad, the prime minister in the West Bank who is despised by Hamas, would not be part of the interim government. It is partly because of Mr. Fayyad, and the trust he inspires in Washington, that hundreds of millions of dollars are provided annually to the Palestinian Authority by Congress. Without that aid, the Palestinian Authority would face great difficulties.What could go wrong?
Labels: Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Mahmoud Abbas, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Salam Fayyad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:55 PM
2 comments
I'm sure you'll all be shocked - just shocked - to hear that Hamas 'foreign minister' Mahmoud al-Zahar has announced that the 'Palestinian' 'interim government' cannot work on peace with Israel. Zahar said Wednesday's deal covered five points, including combining security forces and forming a government made up of "nationalist figures".They also thumbed their noses at Prime Minister Netanyahu's ultimatum that the 'Palestinian Authority' has to choose between Hamas and peace with Israel.
"Our program does not include negotiations with Israel or recognizing it," Zahhar said in Cairo. "It will not be possible for the interim national government to participate or bet on or work on the peace process with Israel."
Both Hamas and Fatah, however, dismissed Netanyahu's ultimatum. "Abu Mazen (Abbas) has said we want Hamas, Hamas is part of the Palestinian national fabric," Fatah's Ahmad said.Haaretz columnist Aluf Benn is beside himself over what he regards as Prime Minister Netanyahu's good fortune.
Hamas spokesman Taher al-Noono also said Israel was "not concerned with Palestinian reconciliation and has been an impediment to it in the past".
The Palestinian reconciliation deal, if realized, heralds the takeover of the Palestinian national movement by Hamas, providing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an escape from the rut he has fallen into because of the deadlock in the peace process. This is just what Netanyahu needed to unite the Israeli public behind him and thwart international pressure to withdraw from the West Bank.Benn isn't the only one weeping over the 'Palestinian' move. Here are the more moderate Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel.
A "unity government" or "technocracy" - as the Palestinians called it yesterday - is a nice but empty headline. In real life, there is no a-political rule and there are no egalitarian governments. There is always a ruling side with partners being dragged behind it. The stronger, more organized, better armed side, i.e. Hamas, will rule the Palestinian Authority and the PLO, not "technocrats." This is how the communists took over East Europe after WWII.
As for Netanyahu, the Palestinian reconciliation deal justifies his warnings that any territory vacated by Israel will fall into Hamas hands and become an Iranian terror base. It strikes any proposals for interim agreements and unilateral withdrawals, intended to appease the world, off the agenda.
Only two options remain - that Israeli surrender to the expected UN resolution on Palestinian independence and agreement to withdraw to the Green Line or entrench itself in its current position.
Netanyahu is expected to choose the second alternative. Israel is being attacked with missiles on Ashdod and on school buses and explosions in the gas pipe from Egypt, he will say.
There is nothing like a sense of emergency and siege to unite the Israeli public behind his government. When the third intifada erupts, Netanyahu will be able to portray Israel's war against it as a war against Iran and its satellites and neutralize criticism from the left about missed opportunities for peace in the past two years.
Despite the harsh response, the reconciliation may well work to Israel's advantage. Israel has been struggling internationally, as more than 100 nations prepare to recognize a unilaterally declared Palestinian state in the UN in September. Renewed relations between Hamas and Fatah, however limited, could shed a different light on Abbas' intentions, and Netanyahu, who is due to speak before both houses of Congress next month, will be able to present the agreement as proof that Abbas doesn't really want peace.What none of these columnists can admit is that the key here is not that the move 'allows Netanyahu' to portray Abu Bluff as not wanting peace. Rather it proves that Netanyahu was correct all along. Hopefully, the IDF will take off the gloves and use an iron fist to ensure that terror attacks from and in Judea and Samaria don't happen. The 'peace process' is over. Oslo is over.
If the reconciliation does indeed go through, Israel's immediate concern would be the future of security coordination with the PA. A Hamas foothold, however limited, would mean that Israel could not share intelligence with the PA.
Between the Hamas election victory in January 2006 and the Hamas coup in Gaza in mid-2007, Israel had been engaged in complex maneuvers to produce at least the appearance of completely excluding Hamas from any security arrangements.
If the reconciliation is accompanied by a mass release of Hamas prisoners from West Bank prisons, this would further increase the risk of terror attacks.
Labels: Aluf Benn, Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Mahmoud al-Zahar
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:21 PM
1 comments
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
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