After fighting a war to stop rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza– whose leaders are committed to the extermination of Israel– the Netanyahu government is engaged in indirect but regular negotiations with Hamas to ease restrictions on the territory as part of the Pillar of Defense ceasefire agreement.
Meanwhile the same government is punishing the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank– which, for all its failures, has in recent years done a reasonable job of preventing terrorist attacks on Israel and which is at least publicly committed to a two-state solution– for the recent vote in the UN General Assembly by vowing to build new settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank and by threatening to withhold a regular transfer of funds to the PA.
With elections coming up in Israel next month, this may well be all for political show. But I (and I’m sure many Israelis) don’t find it very entertaining.
