So Much For That

All that ink spilled and pixels wasted to gush over Mahmoud Abbas' talk at the UN where he claimed that the Palestinian government would recognize Israel. Unfortunately, Hamas won't cooperate. Besides, Abbas never really meant it in the first place according to his spokesman. We hate to say we told you so.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said Friday he will not head a government that recognizes Israel, striking a potential blow to President Mahmoud Abbas' attempts to create a national unity government.

Haniyeh spoke a day after Abbas indicated at the United Nations that a coalition government of Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement would recognize the Jewish state.

"I personally will not head any government that recognizes Israel," Haniyeh said in a mosque sermon in Gaza City, laying out his group's position in coalition talks with Abbas.

However, Haniyeh said Hamas is ready to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War — and to honor a long-term truce with Israel.

"We support establishing a Palestinian state in the land of 1967 at this stage, but in return for a cease-fire, not recognition," Haniyeh said.

Abbas was still in New York and couldn't be immediately reached for comment on Haniyeh's remarks. A close adviser, Nabil Amr, clarified that the Palestinian president would not ask Hamas to explicitly recognize Israel, but to abide by Palestine Liberation Organization agreements that recognize the Jewish state.

"We expect Hamas to agree to this," Amr said.

Oh well. Abbas got his good press and it's right back to business as usual.