Jeffrey Goldberg, Columnist

Why Israel Is Pulling Out of the Peace Process

The decision by Israel’s security cabinet to suspend peace talks now that the Palestinian Authority has decided to forge a unity government with Hamas contains elements of reasonableness, realism, hypocrisy and myopia.
How'd this work out? Netanyahu, Abbas and Obama in September 2009. Photographer: John Angelillo/Pool via Bloomberg
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The decision by Israel's security cabinet to suspend peace talks now that the Palestinian Authority has decided to forge a unity government with Hamas contains elements of reasonableness, realism, hypocrisy and myopia.

Reasonableness: Hamas is an anti-Semitic terrorist organization committed to Israel's destruction. Hamas has not changed in a way that would suggest it is embracing the official position of the Palestinian Authority, which is to argue for a two-state solution. If Hamas were to revoke its Jew-hating charter, cease making it a policy to murder Jewish people whenever the opportunity presents itself, and come to the view that a peace treaty with Israel is a moral, theological and political possibility, then Israel might revisit its position.