The latest round of bitterlemons opinions includes a wide array of opinions on the impact of Palestinian reconciliation on the peace process and relations with Israel.
Ghassan Khatib’s article describes reconciliation as “against Israel’s interests,” with the author stating:
“Israel doesn’t want Palestinian unity, because that would shift the political balance of power more in favor of the Palestinians. Maintaining a divided Palestinian arena also enables the right-wing Israeli government to escape its obligations under previous agreements such as the roadmap. Furthermore, Israel has successfully blamed Palestinian divisions for the failure of the peace process.”
Similarly, Ron Pundak writes that only divisions withing Palestinian society can shepherd in the peace process that would culminate in a two-state solution. He writes:
“Right now Hamas senses that time is working in its favor and that an agreement with Fateh will help it carry out a hostile takeover of the West Bank, as it did in Gaza two years ago. On the other hand, if Abu Mazen signs a peace agreement with Israel and the public broadly supports it, Hamas would have no alternative but to adapt to a new reality. Hamas listens to the public; even terrorist attacks that may seem uncoordinated are linked to public opinion, and Hamas feels at times obliged to reduce the violence. Accordingly, the relatively moderate current in Hamas could accept, even if ostensibly temporarily, the reality of an agreement that creates a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and ultimately contains a realistically-sized Hamas (8-15 percent) within a Palestinian state living in peace and security next to Israel.”
Yossi Alpher writes that the current situation in Gaza differentiates it with the West Bank to a point that the territories must be dealt with separately and under their own terms. He writes:
“Yet, if there is to be any viability to the notion of an Israeli-Palestinian peace process mediated by the United States, it’s time for all parties concerned to recognize that, for the time being at least, Gaza is a separate entity. We all have to begin reevaluating our failed strategies for Gaza. We need to look for new strategies that don’t interfere with the process but are not, of necessity, a part of that process.”
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights issued a policy paper condemning elections without reconciliation first as “impossible.”