The reconciliation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank with Hamas in Gaza is not sitting well with the Israeli government.  Israel has suspended all peace talks with the PA and some in the government are lashing out at their greatest protect, the United States, for not condemning the deal forcefully enough.

A senior but unidentified government official told an Israeli newspaper that the American response was “insufficient, weak, merely for show and didn't include enough exclamation marks.” 

What set off this official?  US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki yesterday said the PA’s announcement that it had reconciled with Hamas after a seven-year split was “troubling”; the US was “disappointed”; and the State Department will seek clarifications from PA President Mahmoud Abbas.  The US and Israel consider Hamas to be a terrorist group, and the Israeli official claims that consorting with Hamas is a “red line” the PA shouldn’t have crossed.

Veteran Palestinian official Hanan Ashwari accuses Israel of looking for any excuse to walk away from peace talks.  

“It shows a lack of seriousness of intent and a certain degree of malice,” Ashwari said.