A Wise Change in Plans
Hamas is not a democratic government. Yes, it won an election, but a democracy is defined by more than one election. It is defined in practice by nonviolence, by respect for the rule of law, for minorities, and for individual rights, by an independent media and judiciary, and by a reasonable respect for agreements made by predecessor governments. Domestic violence is the antithesis of democracy. But this "democratically elected" Hamas is now resorting to assassination of its Palestinian opponents. Two Fatah security chiefs in Gaza have been targets of terrorists' bombs. Hamas is preparing to get rid of the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and it is collecting intelligence on the houses of the senior Fatah commanders in the security service who support him. When Abbas is gone, according to the Constitution, the parliamentary speaker, who is a Hamas member, would then become president in his stead. Eliminating Abbas is the last obstacle preventing Hamas from achieving full control of the Palestinian Authority--its security forces, its commercial authorities and monopolies, and other business interests and associations. It wants the gun and the wallet.
No one who knows the Hamas leaders expects them to mellow in office. If they exhibit any restraint at all, it will be short term, merely to improve their military equipment and deployment for the next round of confrontation. They cannot accept a lasting peace with Israel because they cannot accept Israel. The question beyond that, of course, is whether the Palestinian people can accept Israel. Optimists point out that they voted, in part, against corruption in the Palestinian Authority and in favor of the Hamas social programs. True, but the Palestinians have known all along what Hamas stands for. Now they are being so incited by Hamas, it seems less and less likely that, for years or even decades, any Palestinian government will be able to make the concessions necessary for a negotiated outcome with Israel.
The surprise plan proposed last week by Abbas, giving Hamas 10 days to endorse the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, is not to be taken seriously. Rather than a credible peace plan, it is a transparent effort to stop the internal political squabbling among the Palestinians. The so-called plan not only makes no reference to Israel; it says nothing about a two-state solution and enshrines the "right" of Palestinians to continue to militate against the Jewish state. Comparison between the Abbas proposal and the historic plan put forth by Prime Minister Olmert is worse than absurd. In sum, we must not allow ourselves to be distracted by Abbas's pathetic 11th-hour gambit.
Sadly, just as the Palestinians have moved further away from peace, the Israelis were moving closer to a real two-state solution. Israel's leadership and public opinion have declared a willingness to realign their borders and remove all Israeli civilians from 85 to 90 percent of the West Bank. Hamas, to no one's surprise, favors a one-state solution--that is, no Israel. Its hostility, however, also jeopardizes Israel's original scheme for pulling back: To leave Hamas in control of the West Bank would bring the terrorists and their Katyusha rockets within range of Israel's urban population centers and strategic targets. In danger would be Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the major highways between them, along with Ben Gurion Airport.
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