Was there any surprise at Benjamin Netanyahu's overwhelmingly negative reaction to the prospect of Fatah and Hamas reconciling after a years-long rift? Of course there wasn't, especially given the prime minister of Israel's reputation for railing against just about every political move Palestinian officials have ever made.
Previously, Mr Netanyahu has made it a condition for peace talks that the Palestinian Authority should not sign up to a string of UN conventions relating to children’s rights, anti-torture and corruption. The Palestinian Authority did, indeed, sign up to these treaties, but only after Israel had reneged on its pledge to release a batch of long-serving Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Mr Netanyahu responded by accusing Mr Abbas of sabotaging the peace process, freezing the tax levies it collects on behalf of the Palestinians and announcing plans to build 700 new homes in East Jerusalem, the intended Palestinian capital.
Such denunciations, blame-laying and retaliations have become depressingly commonplace over the bumpy course of the peace process. But his anger at the prospect of a reconciliation deal that has been described by one senior Palestinian politician as enabling the government “to build an inclusive, pluralistic democracy that will represent all Palestinians” is different – in part because it affords Mr Netanyahu an exit from the deadlocked, dormant and soon-to-expire peace talks.
Mr Netanyahu has long said he cannot negotiate with Hamas, a US-designated terrorist organisation that does not respect Israel’s right to exist. This is a red line that will prevent Israel sitting at the same table as Hamas at the very point that Palestinians argue they can now negotiate as a single, unified entity.
Only the eternally optimistic still believe the peace talks have anywhere to go before the April 29 deadline, but that reality also plays into Mr Netanyahu’s long-term plans. Israel is happy for the status quo to be maintained and happier still that his government can point to what it regards as a legitimate reason for leaving the negotiating table. This is because Israel does very well from the stalemate, building settlements and, crucially, facts on the ground that make the prospect of a Palestinian state almost impossible and deferring the annexing of the West Bank that would expose the reality that it is an apartheid state.
