It took a long time for Abbas to realize that he needs Hamas much more than Hamas needs him.
Hamas pretty much managed to break the siege on Gaza. It is reported that if Israel does not agree to a cease fire with Hamas and lifting the siege, then Egypt will open the Rafah crossing anyway. (They don`t want to be Israel`s jailer anymore; the Egyptian people don`t want the job.) And if there is a cease fire, in time Hamas will have it apply to the West Bank too, accomplishing something that Abbas is not able to accomplish.
As Abbas looks at Hamas` successes and compares his own situation he must realize that his policy of quiet subjugation has not yielded any fruits. He can`t even get Israel to lift roadblocks, to say nothing of giving up on territory or giving him a piece of Jerusalem. The result is that the Palestinian people want to throw out Abbas and the PA itself, leaving Hamas and the other groups to take over the struggle.
And Abbas better not fool himself about new elections. There is no need for new elections but for national unity, and a national unity government. Abbas will talk with Israel and Abbas will give him a backbone. This is the way to get a peace deal with Israel which the Palestinian people will approve of. |
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