For some reason, people are saying that Hamas just agreed to make peace, and to live with Israel “just like the neighbor next door,” if the Jewish state withdraws from the West Bank. Jimmy Carter even went so far as to say that “there’s no doubt that both the Arab world and the Palestinians, including Hamas, will accept Israel’s right to live in peace within the 1967 borders.”

Well, maybe there’s a little doubt. Max Boot has pointed out that Hamas is doing almost nothing on the ground to give credence to these words, and that its charter makes it seem less than likely. But we don’t need to work that hard: this is Jimmy Carter speaking. Hamas, for their part, explicitly denied saying anything of the sort. Sami Abu-Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in the Gaza strip, said that any Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank would be “transitional”–meaning it would be a good starting point until the rest of Israel is wiped out. And while Hamas may be willing to accept a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank, they have been very clear about not actually recognizing Israel at that point. Here is Khaled Meshal, the head of Hamas, speaking right after his meeting with Carter:

We agree to a [Palestinian] state on pre-67 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital with genuine sovereignty without settlements, but without recognizing Israel. We have offered a truce if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, a truce of 10 years as a proof of recognition.

In other words: We will stop butchering Jewish civilians for ten years, on condition that Israel gives up the West Bank, divides Jerusalem, and sets up a state where we will most likely rule after the first election, and will be free to continue building our forces in advance of a future confrontation with the Zionist enemy, which we will never recognize as a state. How . . . neighborly.