 Saudi Arabia promised $1 billion in aid to the Palestinians after they agreed to the formation of a unity government, a senior Hamas official said Thursday. The Saudi pledge to provide massive financial aid to the Palestinians prompted Fatah and Hamas leaders to announce in Mecca on Thursday that they had finally struck a deal on a unity government. | "All we are say-ing, is give greed a chance..." |
The two parties also agreed that the political platform of the unity government would not require Hamas to abide by previous agreements signed between the PLO and Israel, one of the three conditions the Quartet had set for granting the Hamas government legitimacy. Instead, the unity government has been asked to "honor" the agreements with Israel, as well as resolutions of the United Nations and Arab summits pertaining to the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Moreover, the Fatah-Hamas agreement does not require the unity government to explicitly recognize Israel's right to exist or Hamas to renounce violence, which was another of the Quartet's requirements. The two parties agreed to end internecine fighting and to work toward consolidating national unity. In a letter to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas urged him to form a new government that would "abide by the higher interests of the Palestinians, preserve the achievements of the Palestinians and honor agreements signed by the PLO." | "Isn't it wonderful, Ismail. Can I call you Izzy? We just got $700 million dollars to kill Jooos! Yay us!" |
Ahmed Yusef, political adviser to Haniyeh , said the Saudi money would be used in phases and would go to paying salaries of civil servants and funding various ministries and projects. | "And we believe the number mentioned was actually $701 million dollars. Perhaps our esteemed colleague Mahmoud the Weasel needs to get his eyes checked..." |
"We highly appreciate the significant role that Saudi Arabia is playing regarding the Palestinian cause," he said. "The Saudis are playing a key role in exerting pressure on the Americans and Europeans to resume financial aid to the Palestinians and deal with the Hamas-led government." | With a billion of my petrodollars flowing into Paleoland, suddenly I fell no obligation to provide... anything. |
The (Israeli) Prime Minister's Office Thursday evening had no comment on the agreement that Hamas and Fatah signed in Mecca, saying Israel would have to study its details before responding. "We hope and expect that Abbas will put together a government that will abide by the international principles," a source in the Prime Minister's Office said. The official refused to speculate what would happen if these principles were not included in the government's framework agreement. Even if they are part of unity government that accepts the Quartet principles the US government would continue to boycott Hamas ministers, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Jewish leaders in a closed door meeting Thursday afternoon. The Hamas ministers in the government would still belong to a terrorist organization and on that account the US administration would have no contact with them, Rice said, according to Jewish officials who spoke with The Jerusalem Post following the meeting. |