Rice to UN: US Seeks Regime Change in Gaza

Last night, as I followed Condoleezza Rice's statement to the UN Security Council, I claimed that she had just asked --- under cover of the conditions for a cease-fire --- for a "legal coup" to replace Hamas with the Palestinian Authority.

Because of the seriousness of the allegation, I have rechecked this morning. Here are the two sentences from Rice's statement, reprinted at the State Department website:

Our goal must be the stabilization and normalization of life in Gaza. This will require a principled resolution of the political challenges in Gaza that reestablishes ultimately the Palestinian Authority’s legitimate control and facilitates the normal operation of all crossings.

Rice's following sentence is also important, as it points to the strategy of putting forth Cairo --- with the "Mubarak proposal" for the ceasefire --- as the public face of this process:

The November 26 Arab League statement will serve as an important guide in these efforts, efforts that are led by Egypt.

(I cannot find a "November 26 Arab League statement". The closest match is a statement by the UN-US-Europe-Russia Quartet on 26 November 2007 welcoming "the commitment of the Israeli and Palestinians leaders to launch bilateral negotiations toward the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and the realization of Israeli-Palestinian peace".)