Let us be generous and assume that Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, is sincere in his advocacy of a negotiated two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict with Israel. In his article in Haaretz of July 7, 2014 he writes that Palestine’s “vision of peace is clear.” Does that vision of peace indeed have clarity? The immediate problem is that President Abbas ignores the reality that Hamas, with whom he signed a reconciliation pact on April 23, 2014, has no such vision. Clearly, Abbas wanted to end the rivalry between his Fatah group and Hamas, and to end the bitter struggle that has continued for at least seven years since Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip. The question can properly be asked, is Abbas more interested in peace with Hamas than peace with Israel? At the present moment when Hamas supporters kidnapped and brutally killed three Israeli teenagers, and the official Hamas TV channel calls on listeners “to kill the Jews”,...(Read Full Article)