Say, just in case you missed him saying it a few days ago, Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas and current palestinian prime minister has said yet again that Hamas will never, ever, not a chance in a billion, recognize Israel.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Sunday his Hamas-led government will not recognize Israel and has problems with a widely touted Arab peace plan because it does.
International assistance to the Palestinians has dried up because the militant Hamas movement will not recognize Israel and renounce violence.
But Haniyeh repeated the Islamic militant group’s hardline principle the despite the crippling Western sanctions which have bankrupted his government, led to strikes and demonstrations by public service workers and clashes between Hamas forces and police identified with the rival Fatah.
Haniyeh, addressing an “Iftar” feast at the end of a day of Ramadan fasting, said Hamas and the government “will not recognize or normalize” relations with Israel.
He also said the main problem with the Arab peace plan, presented in 2002 by Saudi Arabia and endorsed by an Arab summit, is that it recognizes Israel in exchange for an Israeli pullout from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem and Golan Heights.
I need to go back and find those New York Times editorials that predicted Hamas would moderate because they were now elected.