Another missed opportunity

This week, while you were busy with the Ukraine crisis or searching for bodies in the sunken Korean ferry, you might have missed a small item: The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, bitter rivals of the recent past, signed an agreement to become one body, representing all Palestinians.  

Israel's immediate reaction was to condemn such agreement and to pull out of the peace talks - not that such talks were so productive anyway.  Israel didn't take even a minute to think it over.  This was a great missed opportunity by the Israeli government.  Opportunity? you may ask, what opportunity?  They just signed an agreement with Hamas, who not only does not recognize Israel's right to exist, but is actually preaching - and acting - to destroy Israel. Yes, opportunity, is my answer to you.  

Imagine, that is instead of condemning, Israel would have said "We congratulate the Palestinian people for reaching this agreement and we look forward to search together for a peaceful solution and co-existence side by side".  Imagine that.  What would have happened?  Here's what:

1. Israel would have been the initiator, the one who is ready for a handshake.  As such, nobody could have complained that Israel isn't seeking peace.  
2. But more importantly of not getting the blame, it would have opened the door for real talks.
3. It would have put Israel together with any Arab state who welcomes the agreement.  That's a huge credit in the middle-east.  (BTW, just today, Iran congratulated the parties.  Imagine that both Israel and Iran sent the same message.  Imagine.)
4. Israel would have preempted any aggression coming from - well - anybody.
5. What potentially could have been the risk to Israel for coming out with such an inviting statement?  Absolutely no risk.  Everything to gain with nothing to lose.  Sure, Israel would have to backup those words with action, but a statement like this is not a commitment yet.  Just an open door.  

However, in its great tradition of missing golden opportunities Israel couldn't pass this opportunity to miss another golden opportunity.  DUH!!!  Ten years from now, after much more hostility and many more casualties, maybe people would look back at this point in history, shake their heads, and say "if only Israel have said...."

Don't get me wrong.  Israel was not the only one to miss opportunities in the history of the conflict.  Both the arabs and the Palestinians missed just the same.  But the past is irrelevant.  What's important is the now and the future.  Every opportunity is a new one.  

It is easy to see why Israel did what it did.  Israel is much stronger than any faction of the Palestinian people and from both combined.  In Israeli eyes, there's no rush for any peace agreement.  Quite the opposite: with such agreement, Israel would be forced to stop the illegal construction in the occupied territories; likewise, Israel would be forced to stop pumping water from aquifers under Palestinian land.  As usual, Israel wants a free ride: a peace agreement AND the stop of terrorism AND expansion of Israeli settlements.  Somebody up there in the government forgets that there's a price for everything.  But, we're diverting from the real subject here - the missed opportunity.

Here's a question it seems like Israel never asked itself:  Why would Hamas join the PA, knowing that the latter is fully engaged with Israel in peace talks, if it is not interested in an agreement itself?  The Nay sayers would say - because Hamas wants to take over the West Bank, in addition to Gaza.  Maybe, I don't know.  But meanwhile it is submitting itself to the PA - and that is a great opportunity for everybody.  Who knows what would happen several months or years from now?  Yes, Hamas is a terrorist organization.  But so was the PLO - now the PA.  How many Israeli prime ministers declared that they would "never shake Yasser Arafat's hands because they're dirty with blood [of Israeli victims"?  And how many PMs eventually shook his hands? Four (Rabin, Peres, Barak, Sharon).  And it was a good thing.  So snap out of it, Bibi.

I talked about sadness several times in this blog.  I rarely get sad about the past - and that includes losing Liam.  I miss Liam terribly, but I feel fortunate that she was part of my life.  Sadness is not part of the conversation.  On the other hand, when I see someone who lives an unhealthy lifestyle, who believes it can't hurt him - that makes me sad.  Likewise, when I see the Israelis (and Palestinians) walking into a dead-end alley and knocking their heads into a brick wall - again and again and again - that makes me sad.

A positive word of hope to end this post:  It is not too late for Israel to recognize this reconciliation.  More importantly, it's not too late for Israel to realize that the Palestinians are the ones they need to get along with - regardless of who represents them - the PA, the Hamas, or a unified government.  It really doesn't take a genius to figure out who to make peace with (hint: it is NOT your friends....psssst, the other guys).  Despite this recent blunder, I hope Israel will find a way to do the right thing.