Bennett, Bent on Destruction

The inner cabinet will on Tuesday discuss Israeli policy on the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, while taking into account the possible establishment of a joint Palestinian government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement on the reconciliation lacked the combative tone characteristic of his Pavlovian responses to any change in Palestinian positions in general and the potential for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas in particular. For a change, his office refrained from attacking the agreement, responding with diplomatic restraint: “Israel will monitor developments on the ground and act accordingly.”

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Predictably, not all cabinet members — especially not Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett, whose political goals require that tensions remain high — demonstrated the same restraint. His extreme-right party, which dreams of annexing the West Bank, must do all it can to foil the diplomatic track, which could lead to the renewal of negotiations and, it must be hoped, the political resolution of the conflict. Thus, Bennett chose to criticize Netanyahu’s response and called for breaking off ties with the Palestinian Authority. “Negotiating with the Palestinian Authority in effect legitimizes Hamas,” said the education minister, adding: “This is a national terror government; we have no right to falter or fold. We must act with full force against these murderers and not be silent partners in Hamas’ whitewashing. Maintaining ties with them will encourage terror.”

Bennett is intentionally being misleading. Palestinian reconciliation is in Israel’s interest. First of all, because it is the result of a policy led by Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, and Israel has a clear interest in heightening Egypt’s regional position. That, due to the close strategic coordination between the two states as well as Cairo’s influence over the Palestinians (Amos Harel, Oct. 13). More important, and contrary to Bennett’s claims, the pact between Fatah and Hamas is meant to curb Hamas, not to drag the PA into embracing terror. No one can predict the future, but both parties to the agreement promised not to take unilateral measures, whether that means diplomatic action on the part of the PA or a terror attack by Hamas (Jack Khoury, Oct. 15).

It’s not clear whether Netanyahu’s restraint indicates readiness for a change in approach, but we cannot forget that one of the parties in Israel’s coalition government is very clear about its goals, one of which is to impose a dramatic change on the state. Bennett and his party colleague Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked seek to keep Israel outside of the diplomatic track, in order to slowly push the state into the annexation track. To that end, they will make every possible effort to prevent Israel and the Palestinians from returning to the negotiating table. They must not be allowed to sabotage this possibility, together with the hopes of Israelis and Palestinians for a better future.

The above article is Haaretz's lead editorial, as published in the Hebrew and English newspapers in Israel