Israel has claimed it will not get involved in the factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah, but many Middle East observers say the U.S. and Israel have both directly helped Fatah in recent months as part of an effort to topple the elected Hamas leadership. The U.S. is spending $86 million to help arm and train the Palestinian presidential guard which is loyal to Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas. This has helped pay for shipments of rifles and bullets. In January President Bush’s deputy national security adviser, Elliott Abrams, called for a “hard coup” in the Occupied Territories to overthrow Hamas. Last week a Jordanian newspaper obtained a secret 16-page U.S. document that outlined an action plan for undermining and replacing the Palestinian national unity government.