Palestinian deal condemned by Bibi
ISRAEL’S Prime Minister has warned the Palestinian Authority that if it pursues a reconciliation deal with Hamas, it would deal yet another blow to the faltering peace process.
Benjamin Netanyahu was speaking after it was announced that PA president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas head Khaled Mashaal had reached an agreement in Qatar to resolve their differences and form a unity government in the run-up to Palestinian elections later this year.
According to the new pact, dubbed the Doha Declaration, Abbas is to serve as interim prime minister of a unity government consisting of independent figures.
The government’s main mission, the agreement stipulates, would be to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections and rebuild the Gaza Strip.
It’s not clear whether current PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad would be part of the proposed unity government.
Abbas’s insistence on keeping Fayyad in his job had scuttled previous efforts to form a unity government.
The agreement also calls for solving a number of issues that have hindered the implementation of the previous reconciliation pact that was announced in Cairo last May.
These issues include the release of Hamas and Fatah activists who are being held by both sides, reopening closed institutions, lifting travel bans and allowing Fatah members who fled the Gaza Strip to return to their homes.
Abbas said after the signing ceremony that he was committed to the implementation of the new agreement, “which serves the interests of the Palestinian people and Arab nation”.
Abbas told reporters that the Doha Declaration was reached “not only so that it would be published, but in order to implement it on the ground”.
Mashaal, too, affirmed his commitment to the implementation of the accord and thanked Qatar for its mediation efforts to end the dispute between Hamas and Fatah.
However, some Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip voiced opposition to the deal, especially the appointment of Abbas as prime minister.
“It was Hamas that won the election [in 2006] and not Mahmoud Abbas,” said a Hamas legislator who asked not to be identified. “Many people in Hamas are not happy with this agreement.”
Condemning the accord, Netanyahu said, “If Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] chooses to implement the agreement signed with Hamas in Doha, it would appear he has abandoned the path to peace.
“Not only has Hamas not given up on terror, but it is arming itself to carry out deadlier terror attacks. To Abu Mazen I say: ‘Peace with Hamas, peace with Israel.’”
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