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Last update - 02:09 29/06/2009
Seeking Palestinian unity
By Haaretz Editorial
Tags: hamas, israel news, fatah 

The efforts to jump-start the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians pass through a long, winding route between Damascus and Cairo, and from there to Ramallah. Though the details are not yet clear, the peace plan's outline indicates that a reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah is being sought. This would allow a Palestinian national unity government to be set up that could take responsibility for its people's security and welfare.

The unity government could conduct negotiations with Israel at a later stage, without risking a situation in which half the Palestinian government accepts the peace principles and the other half fights them. This intra-Palestinian reconciliation process is supported by Syria and is being led by Egypt, which pegged July 7 as the date for signing the agreement.

U.S. President Barack Obama, for his part, already established in his Cairo speech that Hamas could have a proper role in the peace process if it recognizes Israel. He thus opened a political door for the organization, as well as a window for dialogue with the United States. Hamas politburo leader Khaled Meshal's speech last weekend shows that his organization is not ignoring the outstretched hand or Syrian encouragement, and seems ready to make real moves toward reconciliation.
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Israel can no longer ignore the region's spinning political kaleidoscope and continue to adhere to positions that are not conducive to advancing the peace process. If Israel erred when it allowed the Palestinian Authority elections to be held in 2006, it made more mistakes by refusing to recognize Hamas' elected government and later by alienating the Palestinian unity government. This boycott, which PA President Mahmoud Abbas took part in, generated Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip and the split between Gaza and the West Bank, which blocked any attempt to move the peace process forward.

Israel has learned that one Palestinian hand is not enough to conduct negotiations, let alone sign an agreement. Israel must make clear that, like Obama, it is ready to talk to a united Palestinian government - about releasing abducted soldier Gilad Shalit, but also about a comprehensive peace move.
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