With the deadline for US-brokered peace negotiations expiring on Tuesday, Mr Abbas has deliberately embraced an organisation proscribed by much of the world, including the US, EU and Australia, because of its commitment to murderous Islamist terrorism. He has pledged to form a unity government with Hamas within five weeks and hold elections within six months.
That program could see Hamas emerge as the dominant force in Palestinian politics at the expense of Fatah, something that would give it putative control over Gaza and the West Bank and pull the rug from under what little hope remains for a negotiated settlement leading to a two-state solution.
A degree of caution is, of course, needed. Since the Hamas-Fatah schism began in 2007 with a brutal civil war, there have been several similar attempts to form a unity government. All have failed. The difference now, however, is that when concerted international efforts have been under way to get a peace deal, Mr Abbas has purposefully aligned himself with an extremist organisation that is shunned and reviled by much of the world.
No wonder Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared “whoever chooses Hamas does not want peace”. The unity agreement is in line with other muddled and illogical moves by Mr Abbas that have included seeking Palestinian Authority membership of 15 UN bodies to get international recognition and threats to dismantle the authority and abandon the quest for a two-state solution in favour of a one-state solution.
With these moves Mr Abbas is seeking to ratchet up pressure on Israel. It is a tactic that is unlikely to work and does little for his credibility as a moderate leader who seriously wants to negotiate a settlement that will serve the interests of his people.
Statehood for Palestine will emerge only through sensible, serious negotiations with Israel, not through the back door of recognition by UN agencies and certainly not through forming a government with murderous extremists who do not recognise Israel’s right to exist. Until Mr Abbas recognises that, and acts more responsibly, Palestinian statehood will remain a distant prospect, as will a lasting peace.
