Information Clearing House
By Henry Siegman
08/13/07 “LRB” — – When Ehud Olmert and George W. Bush met at the White House in June, they concluded that Hamas’s violent ousting of Fatah from Gaza – which brought down the Palestinian national unity government brokered by the Saudis in Mecca in March – had presented the world with a new ‘window of opportunity’.[*] (Never has a failed peace process enjoyed so many windows of opportunity.) Hamas’s isolation in Gaza, Olmert and Bush agreed, would allow them to grant generous concessions to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, giving him the credibility he needed with the Palestinian people in order to prevail over Hamas. Both Bush and Olmert have spoken endlessly of their commitment to a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, but it is their determination to bring down Hamas rather than to build up a Palestinian state that animates their new-found enthusiasm for making Abbas look good. That is why their expectation that Hamas will be defeated is illusory. Palestinian moderates will never prevail over those considered extremists, since what defines moderation for Olmert is Palestinian acquiescence in Israel’s dismemberment of Palestinian territory.
Peace and Justice Post 
August 14, 2007 at 8:39 am |
Well everyone’s trying to get the best deal they can for themselves. You want to be very close to an empty chair when the music stops so you plan your path to maximise your chances.
Sure Israel would like as much territory as possible under their control when (heaving willing) one day there is a settlement. Why not? Hamas want the absolute lot and no Israel at all.
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