The peace process in Israel that had been reinvigorated for the last nine months has reached a new dead end now that Fatah and Hamas have made a unity agreement. A senior Palestinian official said recently that the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas does not signal an end to the peace process and that āany agreement signed between the Palestinian Authority and Israel will include the Gaza Strip.ā The official is claiming that the agreement will be a positive step in the direction of a peace agreement with Israel. āThis provides an answer to all those in Israel who claimed you could not reach a peace agreement as long as the PA did not control Gaza,ā the source said. Officials in the Israeli government initially stated that the reconciliation move by Abbas indicated the end of the peace process.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, the governmentās chief negotiator, said the agreement was a āvery problematic development which harms peace talks. In light of the new situation, Israel must examine its implications, and consider its next steps accordingly.ā But other officials in Jerusalem were not convinced that the reconciliation effort was sincere. āYou need to wait and see what happens now,ā said one Israeli source. āWe have seen such moves in the past; it may all be a charade.ā
Dore Gold, who isĀ considered a close personal advisor of President Netanyahu called the agreement between Hamas and Fatah a game changer. He said, āHamas is recognized by the world as an international terrorist organization; by the European Union, by the United States, by Canada and many others. And PA head Mahmoud Abbas has been working very hard with Secretary of State John Kerry, as our Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has worked hard, and all of a sudden, it seems that in the last month, Abbas just simply does not want a negotiated solution. He said ānoā to President Obama. He said ānoā to even discussing with Israel in the future the possibility of them recognizing Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish peopleāweāre asked to recognize a Palestinian stateāand now he turns to hug Hamas. He wants a deal with Hamas and doesnāt want peace, and thatās a tragic development.ā
āWhile the PA can hire some suits to talk about making peace, Hamas is in the back room controlling things,ā he explained.
Asked if the peace process is dead, Gold said it is still possible to revive the process, but only if Abbas pulls back from the deal with Hamas. āHe cannot embrace Hamas and say that heās for peace with Israel. Itās a contradiction in terms.ā
It became clear though from comments by President Netanyahu, supported by officials in the US State Department, that peace talks were off for now. As part of the agreement signed in Gaza, Palestinian officials will begin consultations on forming an interim unity government this month. Elections for the presidency, the Palestinian Legislative Council, and the Palestinian National Council will take place six months after a government is formed. The Israeli government will not continue the peace process with a Palestinian organization that includes Hamas, and this unity agreement between Palestinian factions will be seen as the direct cause for the latest peace talksā failure. President Netanyahu, speaking said āItās a blow to Israel; itās a blow to peace. I think itās a terrible blow to the Palestinian people, because they must choose, too, whether they want to go forward or go backward. With the pact with Hamas, the Palestinian people took a huge step backward, away from peace, away from a good future for themselves.ā