By Stan Goodenough
Aug 01, 2007
Hamas may be a totally rejectionist, mass-Jew-murdering terrorist organization; its members may have blown themselves up in buses and restaurants full of Israeli families; they may have shot dead untold numbers of fellow Arabs in cold blood last month in order to extend Hamas' full control over the Gaza Strip - from which rockets and mortars continue to be fired daily at Israelis in the Negev; Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh might have been deposed from his position as Palestinian Authority "prime minister" after the Gaza putsch:
And the Olmert government may have announced that it will not negotiate with or recognize Hamas.
But all this did not stop Israeli ministerial officials from agreeing to meet with one of Haniyeh's top men in Tel Aviv last week.
According to Israel National News referencing "reliable resources," an official who oversees economic affairs in Haniyeh's office came secretly to Tel Aviv to meet with Israeli economic officials.
Abd Al-Salah reportedly brought a proposal to transfer control of the crossings into Gaza to private Palestinian Authority hands, under Israel-unfriendly EU supervision. The terrorist also discussed the issue of Gaza's economic dependence upon Israel.
Just who disclosed this clandestine meeting to the press, and what the motive for doing so might have been, is unclear.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has taken a number of inexplicable steps in recent weeks to try and bolster Hamas' purported foe, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who fired the Hamas members of the PA after they threw him out of Gaza.
Haniyeh has insisted that he is still operating as prime minister, and reports that the Israeli government is dealing with him could enhance his position in turn.