Gee. You couldn’t see this one coming.
A Hamas source said Tuesday that part of the $100 million in tax revenues transferred by Israel to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas went to pay security services, including members of a Hamas-led force.
“The [Hamas] Executive Force was a part of the security services which received part of their salaries, just like the other forces,” the source said.
During his meeting with Abbas on Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked him to account for how the revenues had been spent.
Israel opposed using the money to pay salaries, particularly to members of Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, government officials said.
Top aides to Abbas had no immediate comment.
“This flies in the face on what was agreed upon,” said an Israeli government official.
Under U.S. pressure, Israel transferred the $100 million to Abbas’s office in January.
Israeli officials said at the time that the money would be earmarked for humanitarian needs and programs to strengthen Abbas’s guard, and not to pay salaries.
Well, you could if you were, well, anyone with a brain. And a sense of honesty.
Today’s assignment: Go over to Omri’s and see if he’s posted about this, and if our snarks match like they usually do.
Wasn’t it Kissinger who said that someone who badly wants to kill you just might conceivably be willing to lie to you?
Probably the only reason some Hamas thug hasn’t killed Abbas yet.
Somebody in Washington needs to realize that the US gets no credit for forcing Israel to do stuff like this, or for being even-handed in any way. The Arabs will not consider the US “even-handed” until we help them destroy Israel and kill all the Jews. Short of that, our efforts at appeasement are futile.
When Arabs talk about “Peace in the Middle East” they mean the destruction of Israel and the genocide of its Jewsih inhabitants. When they whine for “American even-handedness” they mean we should help them do this. No, nay, never.