National unity, at long last

摘要

A step towards peace talks, or just a new holding pattern? It is a little early to say. This week's decision to form a unity government between Hamas, which runs the Palestinian Authority (pa), and Fatah, which used to, looks promising. The official policy of the new government, which will probably continue to be led by Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas man, will be based on the proposal adopted in 2002 by all the Arab League states. This was to normalise relations with Israel so long as Israel meets certain conditions, including giving up the territory it occupied in the 1967 war.