Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded to a European Union statement blaming Jerusalem for obstructing peace by noting that the condemnation seems abstruse when lined up alongside recent Palestinian statements calling for Israel’s eradication and recent Palestinian diplomacy shattering the peace process. The MFA statement specifically called attention to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s November 29 speech in front of the U.N., described at the time by Israeli officials as “poisonous” and “hate-driven,” and to an openly genocidal speech over the weekend by Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal. The European condemnation comes as Abbas’s Fatah faction has permitted Hamas to hold a rally in the West Bank, raising speculation that the rivals are seeking to overcome tensions which have simmered since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah in a violent 2007 coup.