In Paris earlier today Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finally weighed in on the unity deal between Hamas and Fatah, which was officially signed in Cairo yesterday. And not only did she refuse to say whether the Obama administration would support congressional efforts to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority, she also refused to rule out future negotiations with a Palestinian government that embraces the Islamist terrorist organization:
A day after the main Palestinian factions signed a unity agreement in Cairo, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton strikingly refused on Thursday to rule out further negotiations with a Palestinian side that included Hamas, the militant Islamic group that runs Gaza and is defined by many in the West as a terrorist organization. But she reiterated the Obama administration’s call for Hamas to accept basic conditions that included renouncing violence and recognizing Israel’s right to exist.
Yeah, about that “recognizing Israel’s right to exist” thing—that’s been going pretty well lately, right?
So now the U.S. isn’t ruling out negotiating with terrorists. To do so, however, would not only grant legitimacy to Hamas, but also undermine the peace efforts between Israel and the PA. This is the same Obama administration that demanded an Israeli settlement freeze as a prerequisite for negotiations, but now seems willing to consider collaborating with the same terror organization that recently fired a heat-guided missile at an Israeli school bus.
But who knows? The administration also seemed poised to allow a UN resolution condemning Israel to pass, before stepping in and vetoing it at the last minute—while also using the occasion to rail against “the folly and illegitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity.” So maybe this is just part of a similar act.
