In an editorial Friday, the New York Times acknowledged that “some skepticism is warranted” about last week’s announced Fatah-Hamas unity government.

The editorial noted:

Mr. Netanyahu is correct that Hamas, the Iran-backed group that took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, is a violent, extremist organization committed to Israel’s destruction. Gaza militants regularly fire rockets into Israel; in 2012, Hamas fought an eight-day war with Israel.

… previous reconciliation efforts have quickly collapsed, and there are the inescapable facts of Hamas’s hatred of Israel and its heavily armed militia. Given that Mr. Abbas’s call for Palestinian elections in the West Bank and Gaza within six months could bring Hamas to power, this new government could also be Mr. Abbas’s way to make trouble for Mr. Netanyahu.

A report about the editorial appearing in the Times of Israel observed, that “[t]he editorial marked a significant if temporary change from the paper’s often harshly critical tone of Netanyahu and his government.”
At the beginning of this week’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu reiterated his warnings about the unity deal:

Over the weekend, the leaders of Hamas reiterated their intention to destroy the State of Israel. Whoever hoped that the Palestinian unity between Fatah and Hamas would moderate Hamas is mistaken. Instead of the Palestinian authority taking over Gaza, the signs are being more and more seen that the complete opposite is taking place, i.e. that Hamas is increasing its control in the Palestinian Authority areas in Judea and Samaria. Therefore, international pressure must be applied on Abu Mazen to dissolve the partnership with Hamas. This touches on the roots of the conflict and the roots of a solution in which peace is achieved between us and the Palestinians. In any case, Abu Mazen promised to uphold all of his previous commitments, and the first of these is honoring the commitment to demilitarize the areas under the control of the Palestinian government, including – of course – the Gaza Strip.

Numerous analysts see the unity government as a means for Hamas to follow the “Hezbollah model,” or, in the words of one expert, Hamas “will become like Hezbollah in Lebanon before 2007 – an armed militia not responsible to the government operating not only in Gaza.” Portentously, Lebanese sources report  that top figures of both Hamas and Hezbollah have been meeting.

[Photo: alterego / WikiCommons ]