Mere Rhetoric: Done and Done: Abbas Takes US Money and Cutting Edge Weapons, Tells the US That He's Siding With Hamas Anyway

The US's man in the West Bank isn't that US's man any more:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a defiant message to a U.S. envoy on Saturday, saying that the world would have to learn to live with a new coalition between his Fatah movement and the Islamic militant Hamas. The alliance has raised concerns in the United States, and American officials have told Abbas they would shun any Palestinian government that does not explicitly recognize Israel, according to Abbas' aides. The platform of a Hamas-Fatah government agreed at a meeting in Mecca last week only contains a vague promise to "respect" previous peace deals with Israel, at best implying recognition.

Hey, you know what would be a really great idea? For the State Department to get the US government to give Abbas's troops cutting edge weapons. Because they'd never give them to Hamas! Except for the part where they're now explicitly allied with Hamas. But honestly, who could have seen that coming? Seriously, who could have known that a man who never made serious moves to stop terrorism, who openly incited terrorism, and whose troops engaged in terrorism - who could have known that such a man would end up siding with terrorists?

Well, we kind of knew that Abbas wouldn't demand that Hamas recognize Israel way back in October. You know how we knew? Because way back in October, he said that he wouldn't demand that Hamas recognize Israel. That was our tipoff (subtle, we know). Oh, and when he endorsed the de facto destruction of Israel. That kind of gave us the hint that he wasn't overly concerned with preventing Israel's destruction. But we don't have the training and expertise and sophistication and nuance of the US State Department, so we probably just couldn't tell what he really meant.

And now begins the inevitable slide to international recognition of Hamas even though they don't recognize any Palestinian obligations under any peace deal with Israel. A decade and a half of Israeli concessions - of giving up land and of freeing terrorists - and we're right back where we started, with Palestinian leaders unapologetically dedicated to the destruction of Israel. And people wonder why Israelis don't have much faith in Israeli-Arab peace treaties - or in the international community to demand that Israel's enemies live up to them

References:
* U.S. State Dept. official meets Abbas [Houston Chron]
* Mere Rhetoric: US Government To Give Palestinian Terrorists Cutting-Edge Weapons
* Mere Rhetoric: Palestinian Civil Society Watch - Abbas Sulks A Lot, Fails to Stop Terrorism
* Mere Rhetoric: The Oh-So-Moderate Abbas Urges Palestinians To Unite, Target Israelis
* Mere Rhetoric: Oh, So The Al-Aqsa Terrorist Brigade Is Loyal To Abbas After All?
* Mere Rhetoric: Abbas: Recognizing Israel Not Required
* Mere Rhetoric: Bonus Outrage: Abbas Rejects Two-State Solution, Eilat Bombing Happened After Israel Released Money To Him Anyway

Previously:
* US State Department Shines Again
* US State Department: By "Shun" Terrorist Governments We Mean "Not Shun"
* US State Department Shines Again