PLO tells Hamas the "unity" government doesn't have to recognize Israel

Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of the Fatah Central Committee in charge of reconciliation with Hamas, says that the "unity" government with Hamas does not have to recognize Israel.

Ahmad says, correctly, that the Palestinian Authority was set up under the Oslo Accords to be a strictly domestic government, with all foreign relations tasks remaining with the PLO. As such, he claims, the PA never recognized Israel, and the planned unity government has no obligation to do so.

In reality, the PA does have official talks and communications with Israel all the time, for example to request permission for sick people to leave Gaza. The PA reports to the PLO which officially does recognize Israel

This indicates that Fatah is attempting to fudge the facts however it can to clear the path for Hamas to enter the government. Whether this means that the PA will no longer deal directly with Israel after a new government is formed is an open question.

There is another aspect of this theater: Internally, and to the UN, the PLO says that the PA no longer exists and it is all part of the "State of Palestine" that the PLO represents at the UN. Now it is telling Hamas that this isn't true. But it will also tell the US and the Europeans that there is a separate PA, when it suits the PLO's purposes. As it has done since its founding, the PLO will put on a completely different face depending on who it is talking to, and the world happily goes along with this charade because it is a lot easier than admitting that the entity that it honors so much is nothing but hot air.

Hamas, for its part, has said that recognition of Israel is a "red line" that it will never cross, no matter what some idiotic Western analysts say.

Al-Ahmad also said that no independent militias would be allowed under the unity government, which contradicts Hamas' insistence on maintaining its terrorist-military Al Qassam Brigades not to mention the many other terrorist organizations - including Fatah - that maintain their own military/terror wings.

It sounds like the "unity government" will be based on a foundation of lies. Which is pretty much how the existing PA works anyway.

In related news, the PLO has just joined the UN's "anti-corruption" convention, which would be hilarious if we hadn't already seen the UN do things that are far more egregiously inconsistent with its original intent.