follow me. >> to thine own self be true. >> reporter: yes. >> there is the ap in ines. thank you. >> "inside story" is next on al jazeera america. >> after a dozen john kerry visits to israel, the palestinian peace talks look like they've unraveled even leaving president obama suggesting it might be time for a pause. it's the inside story. hello, i'm ray suarez.

this week the largest factions in palestinian politics, hamas and fatah may common cause and announce elections. the israeli election used that sandy to pronounce the pea talks or the talks about talks over since both over a long line. israel assured the palestinians it would release prisoners it currently holds and then decided not to do that. then the palestinians moved ahead with its requests to join various international organizations as a nation. something that the israelis demanded that they not do. and the israelis moved ahead with big plans for new construction on land israel took in the 1967 war. something that the palestinians had demanded they not do. secretary of state kerry has been to israel so much he could get a local driver's license. as of today he doesn't have much to show for all that frequent

flying into the heart of the middle east's longest running conflict. the president on a long-delayed trip has speculated on a pause of a long road to peace. after months teetering on the brink of collapse the israeli-palestine talks were officially suspended thursday. >> we have decided to suspend all negotiations with the palestinians. >> reporter: after palestinian groups hamas and fatah announced reunification and elections in less than a year. >> what we're trying to do is repair our political system and create a democratic system, and at the same time get rid of the riff. >> israel has long treated hamas as a terrorist organization.

and hamas does not recognize the jewish state to exist. president benjamin netanyahu sees mahmoud abbas' choice as the wrong one. >> you can have one but not the other. >> reporter: the two palestinian groups have been at odds for years. even going to war in the 2006 elections put hamas in control of gaza, the territory home to more than 2 million palestinians. it's former rival fatah, the faction led by president abbas, rules the west branch, almost home to 2 million palestinians. >> i support reconciliation because we have to be one nation. but i don't think if a had a and hamas are going to succeed. >> reporter: this round of talks was scheduled to end next week.

but the obstacles seems to make it unlikely. rale said its hand was forced. palestinian leaders abbas went ahead and sought membership to 15 international treaties and conventions, something he promised not to do while still in talks. the palestinian territories want non-member observer state status in the united nations in 2012. >> this will affirm the status of nine in the international community legally or politically. it is a good step to get the recognition equal to other states but under occupation. >> we're willing to continue the talks but not at any cost.

>> reporter: reconcile nation caught the u.s. off guard and anglerred secretary of skate see john kerry. >> if they're not willing to make the compromises necessary it becomes very elusive. we will never give up our hope or our commitment for the possibilities of peace. we believe it is the only way to go. >> reporter: the u.s. has been the driving force behind the talks. president barack obama is visiting four countries in asia to win support for a major trade treaty. he struck a tone of frustration when he spoke about the middle east peace process. >> the fact that most recently president abbas took the unhelpful step of rejoining talks with hamas, you know, it's jest one of a serious of choices

that both israelis and palestinians have made that are not conducive to resolve this crisis. >> reporter: this breakdown is just another reminder of how little they have to show for efforts of diplomacy. the president will continue to offer constructive steps that could lead the two sides back to the negotiating table. >> a look at the israeli and palestinian positions and joining us now, secretary general of the palestinian national initiative here in washington matt dust, policy analyst at the center of american progress, and from tel aviv, an adviser to israeli justice advisers and legal

adviser to ariel sharon. did this agreement between the two palestinian factions give president benjamin netanyahu the out between these two talks. >> we need to know what we're talking about. hamas is not a boy scouts movement. hamas is an acronym. it's full name agains is a moveo fight islam. according to the articles of association of hamas, israel including judea, gaza is the

center of the world to its understanding. it is a holy place give to them by their prophet, and they are not allowed to negotiate on this land. they have to fight. they have to kill everyone who is not muslim. this is their understanding especially when talking about jews. they mentioned in this article of association it is the most anti-semitic paper i've ever read. it's blaming the jews for the world warworld war i, world ward they call us nazis. >> let me jump in. i understand that you have

grievances with hamas and they're longstanding, but in piece talks around the world often the parties have to hold their nose a little bit to be able to even look at the people on the other side of the table. if that is the case in this negotiation, i believe it was an israeli leader who said you don't make peace with your friends. you make peace with your enemies. >> that is very right. but not in the case of hamas. we're talking about a terrorist organization. i just want to remind new 2006 hamas reached an agreement with the plo regarding joint government the same as today. the decision of the u.n. the u.s. russia, an was that these organizations would not recognize until they fulfill three conditions, one was to

improve the agreements between israel and plo, and the third one which could be the most important one, to recognize the state of israel. they are not willing to agree on none of these three conditions. >> that's the perfect chance to turn to mustafa, you were at the ceremony where the two sides declared this settlement going forward. was it understood from the beginning that this was going to end israeli participation in any talks? >> well, i've been listening, and it's very strange to hear what was said. because the israeli representative is blaming the plo for having negotiations with hamas while israel itself has held negotiations with hamas

itself for a cease-fire. and israel has seen no problem, now they want to prevent those things were unifying their ranks. let me first tell you what israel is about, because i think the american audience doesn't know enough about israel. israel is a country that is practicing terror. israel is occupying another country, the palestinian state since 47 years being the longest occupation in modern history, and israel is a country that has created the worst system of apartheid and segregation since the time of south african apartheid. it has forced what has become the largest refugee population to live in the land, now 6 million palestinians forced to live outside of palestine.

now cutting off peace negotiations and showing the real face of what mr. netanyahu's government is all about. mr. netanyahu is the one preferring illegal settlements to international law of peace and preferring segregation to having peace. before this agreement was concluded between plo and hamas israel used to say that it could not make peace with palestinians because there was not a palestinian leader who represent all palestinians because of the division. now that we have managed to have a possibility of unifying the palestinian system, israelis are now saying they can't make peace. what do they want? do they want for us to remain divided so we remain weak and so peace could not be achieved. >> we're going to take a short

break. when we come back we'll talk about whether sides that are still so clearly divided really have that much to talk about, and what the american role in brokering a future peace might look like and what it has looked like in the near past. this is inside story.

>> welcome back to "inside story." i'm ray suarez. the two main factions will come together in the next five weeks. this break through in palestinian politics kept the peace talks from going forward, competing interests, promises broken on both sides and what 2 might take to get the process moving. we've heard a micr microcosm, pg

a lot of prestige in play, and paid a lot of attention moving forward. is there anything to show for it? >> you know, i think you're right, secretary kerry did put a great deal of effort and time into these talks, into getting the parties into a room together, to see if they could bridge the gaps, and it's hard to say what they achieved. one of the successes i think was keeping the talks extremely private and controlling so it's hard for outside owners to say what bridges were gapped, what agreements might be achieved based on these talks. it's difficult to answer. with regard to the u.s. interests in resolving this conflict, however, it's the analysis of this administration and previous administrations that this continuing conflict does create cost for the united states in the region. if we take a look at the two most recent commanders general david petraeus an who has

articulated the cost of this conflict, the understanding in the region that the united states favors israel, the concept that the united states support the occupation creates great difficulty for the united states as a matter of our national security and national interest we do need to bring this conflict to a resolution. >> given the state of the relationship between the united states and israel was the u.s. bound to at least pull back from the palestinian side once the hamas-fatah reach was healed? >> reporter: i don't know if we were bound to. i think it's understandable given the close relationship, given the understand that in order for israel to make the tough decisions they will have to make they need to understand that the united states backs them very strongly. i don't know if it was quite necessary for the united states immediately to come out as it did, but i think it is wor notis and israel are somewhat isolated, and in response to this announcement, you had the u.n. the e.u. and others

welcoming this announcement with the understanding that the unified palestinian national movement is a movement that can then make a sustainable peace with israel >> let me turn the question around a bit, then. is peace possible with the palestinians without buy-in from hamas? >> i don't think it is. i think the question is under what terms does hamas redrawing the palestinian national movement, under what terms does this consensus government move forward? we saw statements in palestinian leaders including mahmood abbas himself saying that this government, which is a consensus--i wouldn't make the distinction between consensus government and unity government, a consensus government, this government would not necessarily run afowl of the quartet conditions. but i think yes, the point is that the palestinians have to be united to be able to have a sustainable agreement. >> gentlemen, i apologize for

cutting you off in the last segment, but sometimes i have to intercede and get a question in edge identify. mustafa, is it possible for israel to make peace with the palestinian people without the participation of hamas? >> no, absolutely not because if hamas is not together, it's out. and it's 1.7 million people is out of the formula. that's what netanyahu wants. he does not want to reach a peace deal. he does not want the creation of a palestinian state. he wants to create some kind of tentative agreement forever with the west bank, and for that he needs separate gaza from the

west bank. our agreement between joining forces is not just about making the west bank and gaza one entity, it's about bringing back palestinian democracy. it's about recreation of parliament that can to which government can be accountable. the agreement of peaceful transition of power on the basis of democratic election. it's about bringing back our right to democratically choose our leaders. i don't know why anybody would oppose that. i don't know why anybody would oppose a new government that is democratic under mr. abbas himself who has recognized this, and why they would oppose that. >> let me put this question out. is israel going to remain opposed even if hamas turns out to be in the near term, in the very near term some sort of reliable partner to the palestinian authority going

forward? >> i have to relate to what my colleagues said. first, he spoke about the country as a terrorist country. how can he say so after he knows better than me that hamas has killed much more palestinians than earlier than 2006. much more, and most of them, all of them from his organization. it's know its true, but you're afraid to say so, and the only reason you're berating israel is because your-- [ arguing ] this the only reason why you're blaming israel. >> the problems between plo and hamas right now. they've made an agreement, they are on the same side now for

better or worse, and that's what israel has to deal with, isn't it? >> it's a good question. i don't know. i don't know if it makes--i'm not sure if they made an agreement. they announced about an agreement. i don't understand the agreement. as we all know hamas is very weak these days. hamas power in the muslim brotherhood, and the muslim brotherhood are out--declared as against the law in egypt, and therefore the egyptian against hamas, they don't take any allies these days. only in the u.n. but even in the u.n. they have problems because iran sunni, and hamas is shia. and therefore they cannot come together. the only alternative--

>> all of that may be the case, but that doesn't necessarily decide what israel is going to do. what israel has to do with when it sits across the table from a palestinian representative. we'll take a short break. when we come back we'll ask about the near-term future for all the parties. will israel speak to a palestinian entity, and is there really peace between fatah and hamas. this is the inside story.

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