Financial Times: No Interest in Principle

Israel’s three conditions for engaging Hamas are a matter of principle.

1. You don’t negotiate with people who want to kill you.
2. You don’t negotiate with people who don’t recognize your existence.
3. And you don’t negotiate with people who don’t intend to honor previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

If you do, you reward — and legitimize — a terror group for sticking to its murderous principles.

But the Financial Times shows no interest in principle. This staff-ed (click through Google News) says forget about it. There’s a lot more to say about this editorial; I’m just singling out one of the FT’s points:

The preconditions set for Hamas were designed to isolate rather than engage it, a shield against an election result the US and Europe could not stomach. Recognition of Israel should come once its borders are defined at the conclusion of a treaty establishing a Palestinian state, not while Israel is expanding its state on Arab land. And Hamas must abide by whatever Palestinians say in a referendum on a deal – if Israel were ever to agree one.

Hamas has its own set of principles: They include killing Jews, harrassing Christians, and brainwashing children as a means of acquiring power.

Staff-editorials reflect the official view of the newspaper.

And the Financial Times stands by Hamas’s principle interest.