In an interview with Wall Street Journal editorial board member Mary Kissel, (embedded below) former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren explains that the reason for the “outrage” expressed by Israeli officials to the Obama administration’s acceptance of the Fatah-Hamas unity government is that the United States reversed a decades-old policy of treating Hamas as a terrorist and genocidal organization. Hamas has failed to meet the American and Quartet conditions to “recognize the state of Israel, disavow terror and accept all previous agreements between the state of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.” In Oren’s words, Israel viewed the deal as “putting a ribbon on a package that includes a terrorist organization.” Oren cited Israeli intelligence officials as saying that the agreement is not “a matter of the Palestinian Authority reasserting its control over Gaza, it is rather a case of Hamas regaining access to the West Bank.” As Oren points out, this opens the potential of Hamas transferring its massive arsenal to the West Bank, well within range of Israel’s major population and industrial centers.

When asked of his own view on the American decision, Oren cited a 2008 article in which he wrote that he expected then-presidential candidate Barack Obama to be “flexible” in his acceptance of Hamas in negotiations.

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[Photo: Anne Mandlebaum / WikiCommons ]