The fact that the PA-Hamas unity deal is, in part, an attempt to smooth the path – by presenting a united front – to a UN declaration of Palestinian statehood in September, is testament to how little the PA fears being held accountable for what it does. Netanyahu, in urging European leaders not to grant that recognition, has been using the deal with Hamas as a trump card. It may now be too late, and hypocritical, for Jerusalem to emphasize the vicious nature of the PA itself.
Instead Israel will have to emphasize Hamas’s brutality, anti-Semitism, and rejectionism, as if the PA itself is free of those taints and allying with Hamas is its only sin.
P. David Hornik is a freelance writer and translator living in Israel. He blogs at http://pdavidhornik.typepad.com.