As Palestinians try to heal rift, Israel must seize chance for peace

Israel is letting a golden chance to make peace with Palestinians slip by with its refusal to negotiate with a unified government. It shut the door on talks after quarrelling factions - the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Hamas - last week agreed to work together. Unlike in the past, the sides brokered the discussions themselves, giving hope where recent attempts had collapsed in feuding after just weeks. The different circumstances warranted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seizing the initiative.

Netanyahu's response is perhaps understandable given that Hamas is a terrorist group yet to renounce violence against the mainly Jewish state. He said he could no longer negotiate with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO chairman, because terror had been chosen over peace. But critics of the Israeli leader claim that he has never been committed to dialogue, the latest proof being a resumption of building homes in occupied territory and refusal to release Israeli-Arab and Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to keep the talks alive. Even the United States, Israel's staunch ally, frustrated by the lack of a deal, was critical, Secretary of State John Kerry saying that Israel was now at risk of becoming "an apartheid state".

Israel's refusal to deal with Hamas would be justified were it certain that the Gaza Strip-based Islamist group was stuck in its ways. But Hamas is in crisis, its support base eroded by unpopular policies and financial backers like Qatar sceptical about giving more aid until they see progress. Dissatisfaction with Abbas over the lack of a peace pact is also high in his West Bank base. Brought together by necessity, the factions have pledged to chart a new course, form a unity government in five weeks and hold national elections within six months.

As if to prove that a new era has dawned, Abbas has turned his back on previous claims downplaying the nature and extent of the killing of Jews by Nazi Germany, saying that the Holocaust was "the most heinous crime" of modern history. That is not enough to placate Israel, but it should be a sign that Palestinians are now willing to compromise. There is no possibility of stability for Israelis and Palestinians while either side refuses to discuss peace. But a unified Palestinian government has to first meet three conditions set eight years ago: recognition of Israel; a renunciation of violence; and acceptance of previous deals struck between the PLO and Israel. If the PLO and Hamas can alter their positions, there is no reason why Netanyahu should not also be forward-looking.