Despite being deemed a terrorist organization by the US government, Hamas (translation: “Enthusiasm”) is slated to saddle up with the West Bank’s ruling Palestinian Authority (PA) in what’s being called a “unity agreement” that will ensure the secular PA speaks as one with the highly militant and Shari’a compliant Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, as reported by Fox News.
The PA is also slated to receive its annual $400 million in US taxpayer largesse. However, unsettling to the vast majority of Israelis as well as more than a few Westerners, Hamas-controlled television on the Gaza Strip has in the past and continues to air children’s programs that quite blatantly motivate Arab-Muslim children to shoot “all” the Jews, as reported here at Liberty Unyielding.
Unlike Hamas, the PA qualifies for the almost half a billion Yankee dollars every year by agreeing to recognize the right of Israel to simply exist as well as agreeing to abide by all previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements. Thus, any power-sharing between the PA and Hamas could nullify the yearly infusion of American cash. Still there may be wiggle room for Hamas to slide under the diplomat-speak radar and finagle a way to continue to access the Obama payout.
In a report to Congress, Middle Eastern Affairs specialist Jim Zanotti wrote:
It is unclear whether a consensus government of the type anticipated under various Fatah-Hamas agreements since 2011 would come under the legal definition of a ‘power-sharing PA government that includes Hamas as a member’ or a government over which Hamas exercises ‘undue influence.’ It is also unclear whether it would come under the legal definition of a ‘Hamas controlled’ PA government, and thus trigger the additional conditions on U.S. aid cited above.
