THE ISRAEL PROJECT
May 21, 2014

Reuters on Wednesday conveyed statements from Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas’s political bureau, doubling down on his organization’s commitment to the eradication of Israel, especially and specifically in the context of an anticipated agreed government between Hamas and the rival Palestinian Fatah organization.Speaking in Doha, Meshaal declared that Hamas had made a range of compromises to secure reconciliation – the exact langauage was that the group had “already made sacrifices and this was necessary to be closer with our brothers” – but emphasized that “with the invader [Israel] we will not make any compromises.” He went on to state that “the reconciliation does not mean an end to our resistance against the invaders [and] resistance will continue.” The stance is not new. Palestinian officials began leaking immediately after last month’s unity announcement that Hamas would get to keep its arsenal of tens of thousands of projectiles pointed at Israel, and last week analysis hardened to the effect that the terror group was pursuing a “Hezbollah model” under which it would be allowed to maintain an armed presence independent of any central Palestinian government. The arrangement is bound to ellicit negative reactions from U.S. lawmakers, who have already been moving to cut assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the unity deal was announced. Congressional conditions on the distribution of aid to the PA are straightforward, and prohibit assistance from going “to Hamas or any entity effectively controlled by Hamas, any power-sharing government of which Hamas is a member, or that results from an agreement with Hamas and over which Hamas exercises undue influence.”

READ MORE