A Bad Time for Conciliatory Gestures

On the one hand, the Palestinian governing coalition, led by the heretofore hard-line militant group Hamas, has signed a document that implicitly recognizes the existence of the Israeli state, a positive step in relations between the two entities. On the other hand, the Israeli military is massing tanks on the border and cutting off electricity into Gaza, an attempt to pressure Palestine’s Hamas-led government into releasing an Israeli soldier taken hostage by militants. Even with Hamas' signing of the document, amended repeatedly and including demands, the Palestinian governing coalition is still beset by serious divisions. The exiled leader of Hamas’ military wing rejects calls for the soldier’s release, and kidnappers demand the release of women and those less than 18 years of age from Israeli prisons – a request quickly refused by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. With the rift in the Palestinian Authority’s governing coalition and Israel’s uncompromising stance toward Hamas, the implicit agreement could represent genuine progress in diplomacy or a strategy to delay a military clash. – YaleGlobal