Così Haaretz ha intitolato la durissima analisi di Henry Siegman, sui reali ostacoli al processo di pace, che ha pubblicato il 25 ottobre, proprio il giorno in cui, a Washington, si è aperta la conferenza di J Street (del cui advisory council Siegman è membro, assieme – tra gli altri – a Rob Malley e l’ex ambasciatore Robert Pelletreau).
Israeli governments have avoided dealing with Hamas not because they fear that engaging the organization might not produce a peace agreement, but because they know they could not manipulate Hamas the way they have been able to manipulate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – namely, by using content-less peace talks as a fig leaf for the continued expansion of the settlement enterprise. Israeli governments have latched onto Abbas as their peace partner of choice not because of his “moderation” – his conditions for a peace agreement are not much different from those of Hamas (after all, Hamas has agreed to allow Abbas to conduct peace talks on behalf of a unity government) – but because negotiations with Abbas shield them from the need to deal with Hamas while at the same time enabling them to claim that he is incapable of delivering popular support for the compromises he needs to make. It is a classic case of having your cake and eating it too.