Today's visitation from the
things that go bump in Thomas P. Friedman's night is our old friend the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, whose officials are
telling the Times that they have been telling their daughter organization Hamas to moderate its stances a bit and try to find more common ground with the atheist Fatah, by way of forming more of a common front in negotiations with Israel.
Brotherhood officials say that they are pulling back from their previous
embrace of Hamas and its commitment to armed struggle against Israel in
order to open new channels of communications with Fatah, which the
Brotherhood had [jump]
previously denounced for collaborating with Israel and
accused of selling out the Palestinian cause. Brotherhood leaders argue
that if they persuade the Palestinians to work together with a newly
assertive Egypt, they will have far more success forcing Israel to
bargain in earnest over the terms of statehood.
They had already—long since, at this point—agreed that as part of Egypt's government they would honor the 1979 Egyptian peace treaty with Israel, now they are moving right into the Israel-Palestine peace process. The Times notes that the development
may unnerve Israel, because it is a move away from former President
Hosni Mubarak’s exclusive support for the Western-backed Fatah movement
and its commitment to the peace process. Israeli officials have said
they will not negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes
Hamas.
I'd say it may unnerve PM Netanyahu for another reason—bringing closer the day when he'll have no excuses left for saying no.
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