It’s the 11th day of Operation Brother’s Keeper, since 19 year old Eyal Yifrach, 16 year old Naftali Frenkel and 16 year old Gilad Sha’ar were kidnapped by Arab terrorists.

Thousands of soldiers are out around the clock, searching for the kidnapped boys and putting pressure on the terror organization behind the abduction, Hamas. But they haven’t found them yet. Terrorism experts have assured journalists that the boys are “still alive… That’s the working assumption.”

Sunday night and the wee hours of Monday morning were spent hunting down and arresting 37 Palestinian Authority unity government fugitives in Hevron, El Aroub, Shechem, Tulkarem and Jenin. The process was not an easy one: each came at the cost of violent encounters with rioters as the IDF soldiers came to take the terrorists into custody. Since the operation began, more than 360 terrorists have been taken into custody — most of them members of Hamas.

Seven organizations linked to Hamas in various locations around Hevron and in Jenin were shut down, and eighty separate sites were searched meticulously for some sign of the kidnapped boys.

Hundreds of illegal weapons have been confiscated over the past 10 days, and IDF soldiers found numerous previously unknown tunnels and bunkers dug under Arab homes in Hevron.

Late Sunday night, Gaza-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh praised the terrorists, saying “the youth of the West Bank have restored honor to the intifada, the greatest legacy in history.”

Haniyeh’s Ramallah-based partner in the PA unity government, Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, said at his office in the Samaria PA capital the kidnapping was “unjustified and unacceptable.” He added that Israelis should see Palestinians in the same way, and realize they are “human beings like them.”

The Islamic holiday of Ramadan – in which observant Muslims fast during the daylight hours for the entire month – is due to begin shortly. However, Israeli defense officials say they do not intend to relieve the pressure until the boys are found.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) hailed today’s national unity government with Hamas as “the end” of a long period of tension between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah organization.  Palestinian division.

“Today, with the formation of a national consensus government, we announce the end of a Palestinian division that has greatly damaged our national case, Abu Mazen said. “This black page in the history (of the Palestinians) has been turned forever, and we will not allow it to come back.”

However, Abbas was silent on comments made last week by his senior government partner, Hamas’ Gaza Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, that the unity government would serve to further the Palestinian struggle “against the main enemy, the Zionist enemy, and to continue with the option of resistance.”

According to footage posted on the Palestinian Media Watch website, Haniya also told the Arabic-language al-Hayat al-Jadida paper last Wednesday that “Those who liberated Gaza, with the help of Allah, can liberate Jerusalem, the West Bank and the rest of Palestine (i.e., Israel).”

Haniyeh also reiterated to al-Aqsa TV Hamas’ Hamas goal of destroying Israel through violence, and said that the same, determined Palestinian “resistance” that led to Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would eventually cause Israel to flee “Jerusalem, the West Bank and the rest of Palestine.”

“Since he already said ‘Jerusalem and the West Bank,’ the term ‘rest of Palestine,’ can only mean the rest of Israel,” said Palestinian Media Watch.

The website also cited the Ma’an news service, which quoted Haniyeh’s explanation that the partnership with Fatah was designed to”protect… the resistance project” and “the weapon of resistance.”

‘[Reconciliation] also means real partnership in the institution of leadership, adherence to the national principles, protection of the resistance project, protection of the weapon of resistance, and [joint] action with all our people for the release of the prisoners and Jerusalem.’”Haniyeh said:

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahoud Abbas swore in what he called a new PA “unity government” today (Monday) at 1:00 p.m. local time in a televised ceremony in Ramallah. He apparently wasn’t confident enough to dare to do it in Gaza, and with very good reason.

“Today, after announcing the government of national unity we declare the end of division that caused catastrophic harm to our cause,” Abbas said. “This black page in the history (of the Palestinians) has been turned forever, and we will not allow it to come back.”

Initially, his new “unity” partners from the Hamas terrorist organization had declared they were backing out of the deal. But a few minutes later, Hamas official Salah Al-Bardaweel announced “the dispute between Hamas and Fatah has been resolved.”

Ministers who allegedly are politically unaffiliated took the oath of office at the inauguration, where Abbas vowed commitments and agreements made by previous PLO and PA administrations would be upheld. It is believed that he was referring to interim deals that were made with Israel.

There are a total of 17 new ministers, including five from Gaza. It is not clear how the Gaza-based ministers will join any legislative meetings, since it is unlikely they will be able to travel out of the region — nor are the other 12 likely to travel often to Gaza.

Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesman for Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization, immediately disavowed the ceremony as a “unilateral” step and stated the terrorist group would “not recognize this announcement. Within the hour, he reversed himself, telling the AFP news agency, “We hail the national consensus government which represents all the Palestinian people.” He added the new government would enable the PA to “face the Israeli occupation.”

What a surprise.

Welcome to the Palestinian Authority unity government deal, the “Cha-Cha’ of the Middle East.

After a dozen or so leading-up announcements of how the PA unity government was “about to be completed,” Palestine Liberation Organization chief – and Fatah faction leader – Mahmoud Abbas apparently simply finally lost his patience and just set the wedding date.

Abbas heads what remains of the gutted Palestinian Authority from its Judea and Samaria capital in Ramallah, as well as the PA’s leading Fatah faction, and its umbrella organization, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In giving international media the heads-up that he would inaugurate the unity government one way or the other, he told reporters that Israel had already warned him it would shun such a government and that he would go ahead with the plan anyway.

Hamas, meanwhile, was threatening to renege on its commitment to the deal even after the swearing-in ceremony was being carried live on Hamas ‘al-Aqsa’ television.

This time the excuse was the intent by Abbas to dissolve the PA Ministry of Prisoner Affairs, which Hamas called a “stab in the back” to terrorist prisoners. That wrinkle got worked out with the disputed Prisoners’ Ministry being given to Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya had already told the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency, “We made concessions on all stages … but some sides misunderstood our lenience and flexibility.” Without that ministry, he said, Hamas would definitely not join the unity government.

It would have been the umpteenth time that Hamas has backed out of a reconciliation deal at the ninth hour since it seized control of Gaza in 2007. Nothing new.

Abbas himself had no plans to turn his back on the bloodthirsty murderers who stole Israeli lives, and who he generously supports with monthly salaries from government coffers. Instead he was planning to form a prisoners’ affairs administration under the PLO.

Officially listed as a terrorist organization in the United States as well as in Israel, this new government with Hamas gives America considerable pause: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Abbas in a phone call over the weekend that it is not being taken lightly by the American government.

According to State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, Abbas assured Kerry on Sunday the new “unity government” would be “committed to non-violence and recognize Israel.” Kerry’s reply was that the U.S. would “judge the body by its composition, policies and actions.”

Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas finally took off the mask and formally refused Tuesday to meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz broke the news to the American Jewish Committee Global Forum in an evening speech.

Earlier this week, the State Department confirmed that Kerry and Abbas were set to meet in London. Apparently the Secretary became desperate enough to come back to Israel for another attempt at reviving the dead-on-arrival “framework talks.”

He even offered to travel to the PA capital of Ramallah. But Abbas rejected the offer, leaving Kerry to meet with Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

“Abbas rejected Kerry’s framework and refused to meet him .. Kerry flew back the next morning without any meeting,” Steinitz told his audience.

“No one should tell us that we need peace in order to survive, exist and flourish,” he said. “We will survive. Israel will survive as a democratic Jewish state whether our neighbors will finally agree to accept it and make peace with us or not.”

He added that Abbas had always said he would never recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state – just as the Hamas terrorist organization that controls Gaza has as well. Last month Abbas signed a deal with Hamas to create a new Palestinian Authority unity government.

Inasmuch as Hamas is formally committed to Israel’s destruction and is backed and funded by Iran, the move effectively ends any option for peace with the PA at this time.

IDF forces have beefed up their lines along the roads in Judea and Samaria, particularly along Highway 60, where the number of road terror attacks on Israeli motorists has increased dramatically over the past year.

The announcement that the Palestine Liberation Organization, which essentially is the parent organization of the Palestinian Authority, had entered into a unity agreement with Hamas might have been the last straw.

As the United States was working feverishly to extend the April 29 deadline for the peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas openly thumbed his nose at the U.S. and slammed the door on the peace process, perhaps for the final time.

By agreeing to end their feud and form a unity government with Hamas, which has been deemed a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, Abbas and the Palestinian Authority sent a decisive and disturbing message that they are not interested in peace.

The United States did not pull any punches in delivering a sharp response to the news.

“The timing was troubling and we were certainly disappointed in the announcement,” said State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki. “This could seriously complicate our efforts – not just our efforts, but the efforts between the parties, more importantly, to extend the negotiations.”

She added, “Any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties. It’s hard to see how Israel can be expected to negotiate with a government that does not believe in its right to exist.”

In response to the PA’s move, Israel announced it was suspending the peace talks.

“Instead of choosing peace, [Abbas] formed an alliance with a murderous terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu. “[Abbas] has formed an alliance with an organization whose covenant calls for Muslims to fight and kill Jews. Whoever chooses the terrorism of Hamas does not want peace.”

Over the years, individuals on all sides of the issue have debated the merits of the seemingly endless peace process and questioned the feasibility of achieving a lasting and genuine peace agreement. However, the fact is that the present situation, which has continued to deteriorate, is untenable and unsustainable.

Sadly, we have seen the physical and emotional toll that the endless barrage of rockets fired from Gaza has on Israel and the detrimental effect it has on the thousands of men, women, and children who live under a constant threat of attack. We know how damaging and destructive the Hamas terrorists, who are lurking in the shadows waiting to strike, can be.

Peace is critical to the continued survival of Israel. Israelis pray for peace. They yearn for peace. They need peace. Yet peace continues to elude them.

Unfortunately, it is a classic Catch-22 situation. Many have questioned the ability of the PA to enter into a peace agreement with Israel when it is not representative of the entire Palestinian Arab world and is at odds with Hamas, which in effect controls Gaza. At the same time, how can Israel enter into an agreement with the PA when it has chosen to make a pact with Hamas, a terrorist organization that has absolutely no interest in coexisting with Israel? Hamas wants to destroy Israel and all it stands for, or die trying.

By abandoning the negotiating table and turning its back on the peace process, the PA has shown its true colors and validated what its critics have been saying for years – namely, that it cannot and will not make a good faith effort to achieve a peaceful resolution to the longstanding Arab-Israeli conflict.

With his decision to unite with Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas has cast off the mantle of “statesman” he desperately tried to be and shown himself to be an opportunistic obstructionist. He threw away diplomacy and chose terrorism instead.

Here we go again, with another round of dealing with set of sour grapes topped off by the “A” word delivered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

It’s getting really tiresome when every time the Palestinian Authority reverts to form – and Israel refuses to lay itself on the sacrificial altar – the U.S. responds by waving international threats at us both. Especially when one of the flags waved at Israel is the silly “A” word.

It’s a plain fact that 99.9 percent of American diplomats and political leaders simply don’t “get” the reality of the Middle East.

The diplomats who are sent into the fray to “develop” or impose the latest solution to the complex problems existing between Israel and her neighbors are simply not equipped.

So they fail. It’s not their fault. It’s just not their ‘hood.

John Kerry is having a problem with this. Instead of accepting this reality gracefully, has collected his marbles and gone home to his boss with sour grapes.

But for the second time in less than a year, he has turned around and decided to fling the “A” word (apartheid) back at Israel. At least this time he included the Palestinian Authority in some of his recriminations.

Kerry told the Trilateral Commission in a closed-door meeting on Friday that if Israel doesn’t make peace soon, it could become an “apartheid state” like South Africa once was. A recording of the remark was obtained by The Daily Beast.

He also warned that a failure of talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority — which basically were dead on arrival in any case — could lead to a ‘resumption’ of PA Arab violence against Israeli citizens. He then went further and hinted that only a change of leadership on both sides could make a peace deal more likely.

The latter reveals his total ignorance of the region — since succeeding leaders on the Arab side generally just brush away the decisions of predecessors — or their own if the prevailing mood of the people doesn’t suit — in any case. Arab promises are rarely kept beyond a generation, if that long. Witness the numerous attempts at maintaining a unity government between Fatah and Hamas in the Palestinian Authority over the past seven years.

With regard towards the risk of ‘resuming’ PA Arab violence against Israelis, the man is living in a bubble because that violence never ended. Ask anyone who lives in Jerusalem, Judea or Samaria or drives on roads in any of the areas. I personally know people who were unable to make it to the Mount of Olives to visit the graves of loved ones this year due to the the violence — and that, while talks were supposedly in place. I know tour guides who could not take friends to certain market places in the Old City — a place we all agree is supposed to be an open tourist safe place — because of the risk to their safety.

As for apartheid, he is wrong on all counts, and even his own boss knows it. In 2008 then-Senator Barack Obama bluntly stated in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg, “There’s no doubt that Israel and the Palestinians have tough issues to work out to get to the goal of two states living side by side in peace and security, but injecting a term like apartheid into the discussion does not advance that goal. It’s emotionally loaded, historically inaccurate and it’s not what I believe.”

Of course, Obama may have changed his mind since then, but personally I doubt it. If anything, there are more examples today than ever before of integration between Arabs and Jews, on both sides of the 1949 Armistice Line.

Rival Hamas and Fatah factions reached a unity agreement Wednesday afternoon, the big success of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s nine-month Peace Talks that now have given birth to political Siamese twins, guaranteed to destroy the Palestinian Authority.

The outline of the agreement was reported earlier today here.

Hamas announced in Gaza, and Ramallah officials confirmed to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an News Agency, that peace between Hamas and Fatah will be finalized within five weeks, with elections to take place in six months.

Both rival factions agreed to release political prisoners that each side is holding.

Hamas and Fatah were unified in the Palestinian Authority administration until 2006, when the United States, as it is wont to do, blew it up by encouraging democratic elections that resulted with Hamas winning a majority in the PA legislature and making a fool out of then- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Slightly one year after the elections, Hamas and Fatah waged all-out war in Gaza. Fatah’s American-trained troops, those who remained alive, scuttled out like scared rabbits and jumped backed into their foxholes in Ramallah while Hamas took control of Gaza and continue its successful effort to its subjects deeper into hell.

Previous unity agreements have fallen flat on their terrorists’ faces, but this time it doesn’t matter  because the announcement itself, less than a week before the official end of Kerry’s nine-month charades, leaves Kerry only being able to announce that he unwittingly really has succeeded in achieving a peace agreement. Given the upside-world today, it would not be a wonder if he gets a Nobel Prize for his efforts.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett reacted to the anticipated unity agreement with the most superfluous statements of the year.

Lieberman said, “It is impossible to make peace with both Israel and Hamas, a terror organization that calls for the destruction of Israel,” and Bennett called the unity an “alliance of terror.”

More interesting will be the reaction of the Obama administration, starting with Wednesday’s daily press briefing at the U.S. State Dept., whose spokeswomen certainly are meeting with Kerry to figure out to get out of the trap the entire administration has set for them by hardly even mentioning the word “Hamas” the past nine months.

As Kerry would say, “’Poof,’ and it is gone.”

“Poof” is gone, but Hamas is around and kicking, when it is not shooting.

Basem Naim, a foreign affairs adviser to de facto Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh was quoted by The Washington Post two months as saying, “Any talks that do not take Gaza into consideration will fail. Obama sees Gaza as a side issue, and he believes that Gaza and Hamas are not at the center of things, because we are not participating in these negotiations. This reflects a kind of naiveté, for the success or failure of all efforts depends on Gaza.”

What, Obama naïve?

How could that possibly be?

He has a grand strategy, just like all his other failed strategies for a new Middle East. Kerry was to hammer out a “framework” for peace, entangling Israel into a web it could not get out of, and then bringing in Hamas with some fancy doubletalk to tie the noose. President Barack Obama, during his visit to Israel and Ramallah last year said, “If there is a model where young Palestinians in Gaza are looking and seeing that in the West Bank, Palestinians are able to live in dignity, with self-determination, that’s something that the young people of Gaza are going to want.”

As in the story of Purim, he made a noose for himself.