Shin Bet chief: Group's shift to politics is seen as a tactic to undermine Palestinian Authority and Abbas.
By JPOST.COM STAFFdiskin turtle 248 88(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski )
Some utterances by Hamas officials testify to the organization's will to establish a Palestinian state, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told ministers during Sunday's cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
Diskin said the terror group's shift from the military to the political arena was a tactic to undermine Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
He also estimated that the Palestinian Authority was clandestinely trying to sabotage real estate deals in east Jerusalem, where some Jews buy land from Palestinians, in an effort to slow down Israeli construction there.
Regarding the internecine conflict between Fatah and Hamas, the Shin Bet chief said that according to a reconciliation deal being drafted by Egypt, top positions in the PA would be decided by regional elections. Also in the draft is the establishment of a joint Hamas-Fatah security apparatus.
Egypt has set August 25 as a new deadline for a power-sharing deal between the rival Palestinian factions.
Senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed said Sunday that Egyptian mediators would hold separate talks with both sides in the coming weeks in the hope of narrowing the gap.
AP contributed to this report
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