You mean that Rice and Olmert's plan to free Palestinian terrorists and flood the West Bank with weapons isn't moderating the region? Weird:

Israel's point man in indirect, Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas said Wednesday the Islamic militant group is more powerful than the Western-backed Palestinian government and is "like cancer." Senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad said talks with Hamas designed to secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier have gone better since a truce went into effect in June, but he added that a deal is "not close."... Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza 15 months ago resulted in militants ruling Gaza and their moderate Fatah rivals controlling the West Bank. The two territories, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, are located on opposite sides of Israel. The moderate Palestinian leadership seeks both areas for a future independent state. "Hamas-stan is more powerful than the Palestinian Authority. It's like cancer," Gilad said. He said he believes Hamas' goal is to take over the West Bank as well.

That "moderate Palestinian leadership," by the by, is the same one that spent last week talking about how they reserve the right to overrun Israel. Not that it matters. Fatah's intentions aren't going to matter much once Hamas gets around to rolling them and their billions worth of security assistance.

Which is not to say that there are no positives to Hamas taking rolling the rest of the Palestinian Authority. There's definitely something to be said for how confused anti-Israel activists will be. They used to demonize Israel for roadblocks - but Olmert has been systematically dismantling those. And of course "economic strangulation" is always a popular theme - except the West Bank's economy is growing faster than ever. So the oh-so-concerned activists had settled on castigating Israel for "splitting" the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Problem. Solved. I do hope they'll be able to think of some other anti-Israel smear - otherwise people might start believing that Israeli concessions only make the Palestinians more intransigent.

References:
* Hamas: If Israel Frees Kidnapped Soldier Then We'll Kidnap More Soldiers (Plus: Prisoner Release Will Bring Down Abbas?) [MR]
* Hamas Exploiting Ceasefire To Train Waves Of New Soldiers In Former Jewish Settlements, Synagogues (Plus: Fatah's Al Qaeda Intifada?) [MR]
* Israeli official: Militant Hamas 'like cancer' [WaPo]
* Abbas: Of Course Palestinians Reserve The Right To Invade and Overrun Israel [MR]
* Bir Nebala crossing opened for free passage [Israeli MFA]
* Palestinian economy in West Bank strengthens in first half of 2008 [Israeli MFA]
* Israel deepens West Bank-Gaza split [PR Insider]

Previously:
* Peres Notifies Carter: Actually You're Kind Of A Vicious Tool
* Rice On Inevitable Failure Of Misguided Peace Talks: It's Israel's Fault (Plus: Hamas Takeover Of The West Bank Proceeding On Schedule)
* Palestinian Negotiator: "Not A Single Word" On Paper, No Agreement On Any Issue