Wikileaks: Even Before The Bloody Coup In Gaza, Abbas Helped Israel Against Hamas

If nothing else, Wikileaks has revealed that our perception of the Middle East, as formed by both the media and the Obama administration, is faulty.

For one thing, we have discovered that, contrary to the Obama administration, resolving the Palestinian issue takes a back seat to Iran in the eyes of the Arab world.

More recently, Wikileaks documents have indicated those in Lebanon who would help Israel against Iranian puppet Hezbollah.

Now, today comes a document via Wikileaks revealing the degree to which Abbas was willing to work with Israel against Hamas:

A U.S. cable leaked on Monday said Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas’s forces worked closely together against Hamas as it took over Gaza in 2007, a potentially embarrassing revelation for the Palestinian leader.

Israel has acknowledged working with Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces loyal to the Western-backed Abbas, but the diplomatic memo leaked by WikiLeaks describes a level of cooperation that could fuel criticism of Abbas by his Islamist rivals.

The 2007 cable quoted Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service, as saying the PA security apparatus shares with Israel “almost all the intelligence that it collects.”

“They understand that Israel’s security is central to their survival in the struggle with Hamas in the West Bank,” the cable said.

The cable, dated June 13, 2007, was sent from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv as Hamas forces were routing Abbas’s security forces to take over the Gaza Strip. Abbas has since ruled only in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Diskin is quoted as referring to Abbas's forces in Gaza as "desperate, disorganized, and demoralized."

Ed Morrissey notes the possible consequences knowing how deeply Abbas cooperated with Israel, consequences that it is doubtful the perpetrators of Wikileaks think through:

Certainly, Abbas’ actions are rational and show him in a better light outside of the cauldron of the Israeli-Palestinian standoff, but it’s not going to be popular on the West Bank by any stretch. It will undermine the PA at a time when the US wants to push hard on peace talks, and make it more difficult than ever to get concessions from Abbas. If the cable itself doesn’t touch off new fighting between Hamas and the PA, a collapse of the peace talks may bring about a new round of intifada. This release goes beyond embarrassment; it will probably cost lives in a manner that might have otherwise been avoided.

Of course, there is cooperation between Abbas and Israel today in terms of the Israeli troops who help Abbas against Hamas in the West Bank--but this is after the bloody coup.

Now we find out that even when there was a supposedly unified Palestinian government, there were problems.

But don't expect revelations like this to have any effect on the juggernaut for a second Palestinian state.

Technorati Tag: Abbas and Palestinian Authority and Hamas.