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By Ira Sharkansky
 JERUSALEM—It's the same old Middle East.
Iran is putting several members of the persecuted Bahai faith on trial, this time on the charge that they were ordered by Israel to destabilize the country.
In Gaza, 30 were killed and more than 100 injured in a battle in and around a mosque, between Hamas and a group said to be inspired by al-Qaida.
Nervous Jews are already fearing that the Obama administration will buy into a Hamas story that it is really a moderate organization, concerned to keep the extremists from gaining power in Gaza.
The dust-up is one more indication that the Palestinians are a long way from a nation. While disputes about doctrine mark some conflicts, others are between factions defined by family and village. They all have substantial components of us against them. When tensions peak, the men (and some of the women) reach for their guns and knives. The latest clash involved machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. One of the leaders killed himself with a vest packed with explosives, also killing a mediator who came in an effort to stop the fighting.
Among the dead is an 11 year old girl.
Human rights groups have not accused either side of overreaction.
A spokesman for the Fatah government in the West Bank has called the situation alarming.
What should Israel do?
There is nothing it can do. Nor, do I suspect, is there anything it wants to do.
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Neither Hamas nor the other group involved in the fighting was competing for the opportunity to negotiate peace with Israel. Both of them are more extreme than Fatah, which itself is stuck in the ruts of demanding all of Jerusalem as well as a return to Israel of refugees and their descendants. The numbers are somewhere in the millions, who--in the unlikely event that they do return--may begin killing one another over possession of grandpa's plot.
We can expect discussions in the White House and among other good thinking people that this is the opportunity for the Obama administration to expand the policy of engagement to include Hamas. Surely everyone wants peace, and what better opportunity than after a regrettable spurt of blood.
Critics will damn Israel, this time for keeping the pressure on Gaza which must have contributed to the internal problems, and for exploiting Palestinian misfortunes by claiming they are not ready for peace.
The majority of Israelis respond to public opinion surveys that they want peace, and are willing to compromise on territorial issues. Majorities also respond that they are suspicious of Palestinian motives, and do not believe that an accord is likely. Recent polls, done since President Obama spoke of his aspirations in Cairo, show substantial numbers viewing him as naive, and doubtful that his engagement will work.
How much effort should Israel make to bridge gaps when one extremist faction of Palestinians battles another extremist faction, both of them proclaiming as its goal the destruction of Israel? The Fatah faction, viewed as moderate, may not be able to maintain itself in the West Bank, and just a week ago decided on goals that no imaginable Israeli government is willing to concede.
A clever person does not enter a situation that a wise person knows how to get out of.
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