Palestinian reconciliation ‘next to impossible’ (Jerusalem Post)

– “Mahmoud Abbas has given up making shalom with Israel for the foreseeable future and is trying once again to make salaam with Hamas.

The Palestinian president and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, are scheduled to meet this week in Cairo to try to revive the power-sharing agreement that was signed in May but never implemented. They will also attempt to name a caretaker government to prepare for elections in about six months.

Chances of success are only slightly higher than they were six months ago, said Robert Danin, former head of Tony Blair’s Jerusalem Quartet mission and a former senior State Department and National Security Council Middle East specialist. The two parties are far apart but there is strong popular support for unity, and the leaders fear being “consumed” by the unrest sweeping the Arab world, he added.”

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