Washington’s foreign policy remains “dominated” by Israel, which is “not familiar with the notion of peace,” a political analyst and writer in London says.
The Obama administration’s “disappointment” over a reconciliation pact between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) “is another evidence that, tragically enough, American foreign policy is still dominated by the [pro-Israel] Jewish lobby,” said Gilad Atzmon.
“America should have welcomed such a truce between the Hamas and the PA,” Atzmon told Press TV on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Hamas and Fatah reached a momentous reconciliation deal, and the Palestinian factions announced that they will make efforts to form a unity government in the coming weeks.
The US State Department on Wednesday expressed “disappointment” over the reconciliation pact. "The timing was troubling, and we were certainly disappointed in the announcement," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Washington.
Speaking at a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, US President Barack Obama called the Palestinian unity deal "unhelpful."
Hamas and Fatah have been in dispute since Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections. The groups have reached two reconciliation agreements in Egypt and Qatar in 2011 and 2012, but both deals were not implemented due to some differences.
Following the reconciliation agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas should choose between reaching peace with Israel or making peace with Hamas.
“Israelis are not familiar with the notion of peace, of reconciliation, and of harmony. The word shalom doesn’t mean peace for Israelis, it means security for the Jews,” Atzmon said.