According to experts at the Foreign Ministry, the worst possible scenario for Israel is one in which the international community recognized the Palestinian government even though it had not met the Quartet’s conditions.
—Haaretz
European states have signaled to the Hamas government that they intend to lift the economic embargo on the Palestinian Authority once a national unity government is established, according to Ahmed Yusef, political adviser to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
“The European states have promised to reconsider their stance regarding the boycott of the Palestinian government.”
—Haaretz
If Yusef’s statement is true, not a given by the way, then Israel’s “worst possible scenario” comes to pass. Quelle dommage, non?
Too bad for the U.S. as well, which allows Israel to lead us by the nose when it comes to relations with Hamas. If the EU breaks ranks with the U.S. (and I hope it does), then it will relegate us to the same old irrelevant position we held during the Lebanon war. We held back hoping Israel would beat the shit out of Hezbollah. Only after it became crystal clear that not only had Israel lost, but that a continuation of the war would send the Arab world into apoplexy did we relent and see reason.
Similarly, regarding the national unity government the U.S. goal is the wreak the most damage possible on the Hamas government in the hopes of Palestinians rejecting it. That means refusing to deal with even the new coalition government since it contains a strong Hamas component. But again, this same hang back approach renders us a non-entity when it comes to resolving the conflict. And it makes the EU a real player.
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I do hope that the Europeans will play a bigger role in resolving the conflict. In Israel, the Europeans are never taken seriously.
A movement called the Geneva Initiative thinks that we should let Europe play a larger role, but their opinion is out there alone.
Israel says Amen only to the US.
I don’t know if this new unity government is good, but the PAs president Abbas is always there anyway, and he has a significant position. Talks with him could be a good start.