The US still has hope that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks can resume, with a senior US official saying the “door remains open to the peace process.” But it’s about to slam shut.
The same day the State Department released the officials optimistic comments, the so-called “moderate” Palestinians had a “positive” meeting on unity with the Hamas terror group. The <a href=”http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=697428″>Ma’an News Agency</a> reported the unity talks should finish next week.
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One key barrier, the formation of a unity government, is almost fully resolved. Ma’an reported that a Hamas spokesman said the creation of a unity cabinet is almost done. The sides are two weeks away from a five week deadline for a deal, a timeframe they expect to meet.
This creates major problems, because Hamas refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel. They also opposed the US-sponsored peace process with Israel.
Their presence in a government with the more moderate Fatah group could lead to a halt in US financial assistance for the Palestinian government.
So it was intriguing that the US official said US Secretary John Kerry is meeting with Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas this week. The US official said that “the purpose of the meeting is more about our ongoing relationship with the Palestinian people. So I would expect they’ll discuss everything from Syria… to recent Palestinian political developments.”
Those political developments? Reuniting with terrorists. So while the door may be open on peace for now, it’s closing in less than two weeks.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, May 14, 2014)