Hamas-Fatah reconciliation derails
Well, that didn’t take long: 
Hamas on Thursday accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of backtracking on the Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation agreement between the two sides.
The PA, in response, said that Iran, which supports Hamas financially, has instructed the movement to pull out of the agreement with Fatah.
“Hamas is nothing but a tool in the hands of Iran,” a PA official said. “There can be no agreement with a movement that serves the agenda of a regime like Iran, which is a threat to Arab national security.”
While it’s no surprise that the Hamas-Fatah arrangement didn’t work — did anyone think it would? — the public admission by the PA that Hamas is a tool of Iran is instructive. In fact, it’s what Israel has been saying for a long time.
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Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 at 1:13 PM | David Kuner
Israeli air force strikes Gaza tunnels
On Tuesday night, Israeli Air Force jets bombed a smuggling tunnel in Gaza in response to an earlier attack by Gaza terrorists, who fired a Qassam rocket and mortar shell into southern Israel. The IDF reported that the tunnel targeted in the airstrike was used by terrorists to sneak into Israel and attack soldiers and civilians alike. Israel holds Hamas responsible for the attacks. 
Israel faces threats on many fronts – Hamas to the east, and Hezbollah and Syria to the north. Even countries like Turkey and Egypt, which once had relatively good relations with Israel, are now threatened by rising Muslim radicalism. Behind all these threats lies Iran. Israel knows that Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, and a number of hostile Arab and Muslim states receive Iranian support and take their orders from the Israel-hating Muslim fundamentalist regime that rules the Islamic Republic.
Until Israel and the Western World confront the Iranian threat head on, terror against Israel and the West will continue. Countries that believe in freedom and justice should stand with Israel as it contends with enemies who preach intolerance and violence. Iran isn’t just “Israel’s problem” but a global threat, and Israel’s strikes in retaliation to terror should be supported and not harshly criticized, as they are so often in the media and at the United Nations.
Comments (3) »Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011 at 7:44 AM | Amichai Farkas
Hamas, Fatah can’t agree on Palestinian PM
Remember the Hamas-Fatah unity agreement that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter hailed as a “return to unified Palestinian governance”? For some reason — surprise! — it’s not going so well: 
Hamas on Tuesday denounced statements made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in an interview with Lebanese television in which he said that he has the right to choose the prime minister of the Palestinian unity government, specifically mentioning current PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad.
Fatah and Hamas’s failure to agree on the identity of the new prime minister has led to the indefinite postponement of the establishment of the unity government. Fatah continues to insist on the appointment of Fayyad, while Hamas says it would never sit together with him in any government.
Now I’m no expert on nation-building, but maybe — just maybe — a Palestinian “unity government” based solely on two parties’ hatred of Israel, rather than something positive and constructive, isn’t the best foundation upon which to build a functioning, productive state.
Just a thought.
Comments (2) »Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 at 8:12 AM | David Kuner
Assad blames crisis on “saboteurs”
Syria’s President Bashar Assad addressed a crowd of supporters for the third time since the start of the Syrian uprising in March. Assad lashed out at protesters, calling them ”saboteurs” and claiming that reform will not be reached through “vandalism.” 
Meanwhile, the opposition to the Syrian president reported that 1,400 protesters have been killed and over 10,000 detained by Syrian forces. Another 11,000 Syrian people fled to Turkey out of fear of Assad’s regime.
It is hard to report exactly what has taken place in Syria since March, because the Syrian government has imposed a media blackout. But refugees who have fled to Turkey have reported seeing Iranian National Guardsmen joining Syrian forces in crushing the opposition. It has also been reported that Syrian forces have routinely opened fire on demonstrators, leaving many to die in cold blood while those detained have been maliciously tortured.
These kinds of accusations might seem shocking to western ears. But here in Israel we are well aware of the brutality that prevails in much of the Arab Middle East. From Libya to Iran, as well as in Gaza – remember the Hamas-Fatah civil war in 2006-2007? – we have seen Arab leaders and warring factions inflict violence on their own citizens.
After seeing Assad’s cruelty toward the Syrians, the horrors Libyan dictator Kaddafi has unleashed on Libyan civilians, and other atrocities, it’s even more clear that Israel must be victorious against the forces of oppression that surround her. This is battle between a culture of life and peace, and a culture of violence and death — and the fate of the entire civilized world, not just Israel, hangs in the balance.
Comments (0) »Monday, June 20th, 2011 at 2:54 PM | Amichai Farkas
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The ill-conceived statehood push
It’s obvious why Israelis have concerns about Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ push this September for the U.N. to recognize a Palestinian state. But maybe Palestinian leadership should be concerned as well.
As Khaled Abu Toameh writes in his thoughtful Hudson New York op-ed:
So the question remains — if he’s not going to get a state and could alienate his own people, what’s the point of this push?
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