Palestinian reconciliation has transformed from declarations and statements into reality, as Abu Mazen announced the declaration of the unity government between Fatah and Hamas, which resulted in strong reactions in the Israeli political establishment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that “Abu Mazen said yes to terrorism, not to peace.” Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet decided not to negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas and authorized Netanyahu to impose additional sanctions on the Palestinian Authority. “This is a direct continuation of Abu Mazen’s policy of refusing peace,” Netanyahu stated. “While Israel has made courageous and painful steps for the political process and remains committed to peace, Abu Mazen refused to extend the negotiations, rejected the American framework document, continues to incite against Israel, takes unilateral steps at the UN, and now has formed an alliance with the terrorist organization Hamas, who is responsible for murdering over 1,000 Israelis and firing thousands of rockets at Israeli cities.” Bayit Ha-Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett stated that “20 years after the Oslo Agreements and 9 years after the disengagement, the Palestinian state agenda crashed into the wall of reality. In the Hamas charter, horrific sentences appear calling to kill Jews hiding behind trees and stones and therefore, this government is illegitimate. Thus, the Israeli government decided unanimously not to recognize this government and not to maintain contact with her. It’s time to get out from defense to attack and to do what’s good for Israel.” Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman referred indirectly to the subject during a lecture at a conference at IDC Herzliya: “There is a real dividing line today between moderates and extremists. When speaking about diplomatic relations with Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, it is a different reality. The fact that we can fly directly from Tel Aviv to Doha and do business with them is a completely different reality. Our ability to improvise together with our economic power will make a big change in moderate Arab states. It is much more important to reach an agreement with the moderate countries. We will come to another reality and won’t participate in the Quartet and rubbish.” Like Bennett, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon stated that “the Palestinian minister’s suits are just to beautify terrorist activity that is operated under their care. Currently, any assistance given to the Palestinians by the US and other countries directly helps to harm the State of Israel.”
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 07:54:46 +0000
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