Palestinian Leadership Prepared to Prolong the Misery of its People

The Fellowship  |  March 15, 2018

Writing at the Gatestone Institute, Bassam Tawil says that the enemy of a viable Israeli-Palestinian peace plan is not Israel, or the U.S. – it’s Palestinian leadership, which continually and cynically puts its own interests before the best interests of its people:

Not only are Hamas and Abbas wholly shirking their responsibility to their people, they also are prepared to foil any attempt by outsiders, in this case the US, to work towards ending the crisis in the Gaza Strip. Why would any Palestinian or Arab reject an offer by anyone, even if it were the devil himself, to extend an arm of help to Palestinians in dire need?

The answer, again, is twofold: First, Hamas and Abbas are too busy ripping each other to shreds over money and power to take notice of their people’s misery. Second, the two Palestinian leadership parties actively desire a continuation of the crisis: it enables them to rake Israel over the coals at various international forums. The relationship between Abbas and Hamas is bad on an epic scale, but when it comes to incitement against Israel, they are best buddies.