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Haaretz just published an article with the headline: Russian FM calls international demands on Hamas 'unrealistic'. From the article:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that international demands for Hamas to immediately renounce violence and recognize Israel were unrealistic at present, and that the Palestinian movement should be given more time to honor them.
And how much time would be reasonable? 1 year? 2 years? A century? Why exactly is it unreasonable to expect Hamas to "recognize Israel"? Perhaps because they are incapable of such, and never intend to.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas told demonstrators in Gaza on Friday that Israel is an abomination in the Middle East that will some day disappear.
So what is Russia worried about?
Lavrov added that the ruling Palestinian movement could "move gradually toward accepting these conditions."
He criticized unidentified members of the quartet of "trying to influence this process by making excessive demands, excessive at the present stage."
What amazes me is that the "Quartet" and every other international power that is putting pressure on Israel to accept and give in to Hamas and the PLO, are intimating that given more time, Hamas will really go and make extremely large and generous concessions like recognizing that the State of Israel deserves more than extermination.
Are they really that stupid and ignorant. Is there some alternate fantasy world where they are living, in which one is allowed to stick one's head in the ground and selectively pay attention to only the things that adhere to one's own personal agenda? Or do they really know what is going on, and just want to give off the impression of ignorance? While the Quarter continues speaking about how Hamas just needs a little bit more time, and eventually they will come around to recognizing Israel (which will still have gotten us absolutely no where), Hamas is making no effort to conceal their true intentions (other than speaking in Arabic). Here is what they have to say:
Speaking at a rally in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, the Palestinian foreign minister said Hamas would never accept Israel's existence.
"We will never recognize Israel, and the end the [fate of] Zionists will be like that of the Crusaders, the Persians and the English, who left. We want all of Palestine, every centimeter, from the river to the sea, from Rosh Hanikra to Rafah. If we can form a state within the 1967 borders we will do so, but this doesn't mean that we will relinquish our right to every centimeter of Palestine's land," he said.
In his speech, Zahar also addressed the Palestinian prisoners in Israel and promised them that Hamas will do all that it can to secure their release, including kidnapping more Israeli soldiers.
While the rest of the world is waiting for Hamas (and Iran), I sincerely hope that Israel can produce some real leaders who are capable of actually acting in the best interests of Israel. Not in the best interests of public relations, or doing things that will allow the Prime Minister to avoid indictment or get an invitation to Oslo or Washington DC. The best interests of Israel. Because if we can't do anything but help dig our own grave, we have no reason to blame the rest of the world for holding out the shovel.
