Treachery Among Friends – The Israel Fatah Hamas Triangle

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is an old Arab saying, perhaps overused.  However it may apply to the leader of Fatah President Mahmoud Abbas and the Israel Security Agency (ISA). The ISA discovered that Hamas, which is led by Khaled Mechaal, planned a large scale coup against Abbas.

Hamas and Fatah share a goal for the destruction of Israel. Their methods differ.  Hamas is a terrorist organization.   Fatah uses propaganda and political wiles at the United Nations

Yasser Arafat was the leader of Fatah and Chairman of the PLO, which was founded in 1964.  Under the PLO there was a unity government between Fatah and Hamas. When Arafat died, Abbas succeeded him.

 In the Six Day War of 1967 Israel defeated all of the Arab nations who fought against her.  She won and annexed Gaza and the Sinai from Egypt; the West Bank from Jordon; and the Golan Heights from Syria.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attempted to improve relations with the Palestinian Authority, which had administrative authority over Gaza.   She brokered a deal for Israeli disengagement from Gaza.  Benjamin Netanyahu was then a Member of the Knesset and stood against disengagement.  However, Israelis were removed from Gaza in 2005. Conflict continued between Fatah and Hamas.   Elections were held.  Hamas won.   In 2007 Hamas took control of Gaza, removed Fatah officials, and ended the Unity Government.  Fatah retained administrative control of the West Bank.

 A new Fatah/Hamas Unity Government was formed in June 2014; as the seemingly moderate Abbas partnered with the terrorist group.  The Unity Government rejects of the State of Israel and hopes for a newly created Palestine State from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.   Israel shunned, and urged the U.S. and Europe to shun, the Unity Technocrat Government. 

 Secretary of State John Kerry defended Washington's decision to work with the new Unity Government, claiming none of its ministers has ties to Hamas. Benjamin Netanyahu predicted that this would lead to a Hamas takeover in Judea and Samaria.

It was disclosed in August 2014 that Hamas was plotting against Mahmoud Abbas to topple the PA in Judea and Samaria through a series of brutal terror acts against Israeli and Palestinian targets.  The plot was masterminded from Hamas Headquarters in Turkey.  Israeli Security Agency is holding 93 Hamas terrorists, and confiscated large amounts of cash and weapons involved in the coup.   Knesset Members report that this discovery dispels claims by the UN, the EU, and the United States that the Unity Government was impervious to Hamas terror.

Mahmoud Abbas ordered an investigation into the Hamas coup; and cancelled his trip to Qatar for a meeting with Khaled Mechaal.   Perhaps Israel’s discovery of the Hamas plot against him has made Abbas ponder about who is his enemy and who is his friend.