Join the queue to see Hamas fall

Danny Rubinstein makes some interesting points in this column about how there are states that want Hamas to fall more than Israel does:

This is now an important question not only in the Israeli-Palestinian context, but in the regional context and perhaps beyond. There will be those in the Arab and Muslim world who attempt to assist the Hamas government, and there will be those who try to make it fail. It is said among the Palestinians that there will be a third group, a large one, that will include Arab rulers pretending they want to help and support the new Palestinian government - but they will really be trying to bring it down. Will the Fatah leadership, Abu Mazen and his colleagues in the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization act in a similar fashion? It is very possible.

Either way, the Israeli government does not need to be pushed into heading the list of those who want to bring the Hamas government down. There are others - in the Palestinian territories, the Middle East and the international community - who will do it better.

In that third category of states that pretend to help Hamas but want to see it fall, I would definitely include Egypt.

Related: Arab banks (some of these are very big banks) are urging the PA to close its accounts with them before they get sued under new international banking regulations.

Note: This was mistakenly posted under a different username earlier today.