The PLO's Catch-22

Short-lived Istanbul agreement between Hamas and the PA

Now that the PLO has caved and returned to security coordination with Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are angry and upset. 

The Islamic Jihad spokesperson in Lebanon (who has been very visible lately in PIJ media), Ihssan Ataya, called the announcement of the restoration of relations and security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel "a disregard for the Palestinian people" and "a stab in the heart of national unity, consolidating the hegemony of the Zionist enemy over the Palestinian lands, and reviving the annexation plan in light of the increase in settlement projects."

Hamas stopped their reconciliation talks in Cairo with the PLO.

All of this puts the PLO's Catch-22 situation in focus, and it is also the reason that peace is impossible.

For there to be a chance at peace, the PLO - which would sign the accords - must represent the entire Palestinian people and it must oppose terror.

The PLO doesn't rule Gaza, so there can be no peace with a group too weak to control its own lands. If it unifies with Hamas, then it cannot pretend to be against terror. 

There is no realistic solution to this at this time. No Palestinian wants to separate Gaza from the West Bank. Israel is not interested in a long, bloody war that would destroy Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza. The PLO is too weak to govern Gaza. Neither the PLO nor Hamas would accept the results of elections that they lose and give up their power base. 

The entire world knows this - it has been the situation for 12 years. Which is why those pushing for more negotiations are not thinking rationally: Israel cannot negotiate on final status issues with leaders who are too weak to govern their own people, and Israel cannot negotiate with terrorists. 

One major reason peace is impossible is because of this dysfunctional relationship between the PLO's West Bank and Hamas' Gaza. 

If you want to laugh, here is a solution: when Palestinians learn how to be as practical and accepting of Israel as a permanent part of the Middle East and Jews as natives - the way that Emiratis are - they can have a state by the week after. 

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