A CADEMIC P EACE O RCHESTRA M IDDLE E AST P OLICY B RIEF F OR THE M IDDLE E AST C ONFERENCE ON A WMD/DV S F REE Z ONE N O . 3• D ECEMBER 2011 The Reconciliation of Hamas and Fatah Smoothing the Way to the Middle East Conference by Contributing to Peace and Security in the Region Margret Johannsen(Coordinator), Ziad AbuZayyad, Karima El Ouazghari, Judith Palmer Harik, Anat Kurz, and Jamil Rabah I n their review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT) on 28 May 2010, the 189 parties to the NPT endorsed a Final Document calling for a 2012 Conference to be attended by all Middle East states on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction including their delivery vehicles. The document called on the UN Secretary General and the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation(the co-sponsors of the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East) to consult with the states of the region on specific preparatory steps. 1 It is too early to predict at this stage of the preparations, how questions such as regional rivalries and drive for hegemony, hostile and friendly alliances, win-win versus zero-sum thinking and conflicting interests of regional states will impact on the 2012 Middle East Conference(MEC). The linkage between the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement and the regional environment is only one of many issues connected to the MEC. Both are in flux, influence each other and resemble moving targets. When identifying conditions for success or failure for the Conference the weapons issue needs to be put within the overall framework of regional security and stability of which reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah is an important ingredient. Two related issues are of immediate impor­tance to regional instability and deserve special attention. The first is the political split in the Palestinian arena; the second is the security tensions between Hamas and Israel. The Palestinian Split: Features and Factors The formal political split between Hamas and Fatah dates back to June 2007 when Hamas militias took over the Gaza Strip after attacking Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces. They claimed that their coup was a pre-emptive act aimed at aborting a planned attack by Fatah to liquidate Hamas militias. The take-over was followed by the ousting of the short-lived Saudi-mediated unity government and the establishment by presidential decree of a caretaker government in the West Bank; meanwhile Hamas retained its own government in Gaza. The split between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank led each party to create a monopoly of force in their respective areas of control. The build-up and employment of two separate security services is the most conspicuous expression of this contest for power and prevalence in the national arena. The Legislative Council, which was democra­tically elected, is since defunct. Two parallel governments rule in Ramallah and in Gaza, both of them without electoral legitimization. Presidential and parliamentary elections are not only overdue but also necessary if the process of building the institutions of a future sovereign and democratic Palestinian state is to continue. Any political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians requires a Palestinian representative acceptable to both Gaza and the West Bank. As such, Palestinian reconciliation is a pre-requisite for achieving peace and security in the region. Abstract The reconciliation agreement between the two major Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah could contribute to reviving the fledgling Middle East peace process. This P OLICY B RIEF identifies the platform of the future Palestinian government as the key for linking Palestinian unity and the possible resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process; progress on this front could help mitigate regional tensions and therefore enhance prospects for success of the envisaged 2012 Middle East Conference. Any political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians requires the presence of a representative acceptable by both Gaza and the West Bank. As such, Palestinian recon­ciliation is a pre-requisite to achieving peace and security in the region. This P OLICY B RIEF is based on contribu­tions made at the meeting of the A CADEMIC P EACE O RCHESTRA M IDDLE E AST in Vienna in July 2011. The Working Group on the 2012 Middle East Conference included academic colleagues from Germany, Israel, Lebanon, and Palestine. Margret Johannsen acted as coordinator. 