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Rice and Abbas under the watchful of the "The Rais" (AP file)
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| By Jerusalem Newswire July 25, 2005 |
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As the Hamas terrorist organization continues to gain strength in Gaza, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, visiting over the weekend, spelled out her expectations of Israel, which she apparently hopes will shore up the purportedly shaky Palestinian Authority in the Strip.
According to reports in the mainstream Israeli press, Rice, who visited here with Israeli leaders and Arab officials, said the US wanted the Jewish state to support Mahmoud Abbas "against" Hamas, and to supply Abbas's forces with ammunition.
To bolster the PA chief in the eyes of his people, Rice said she was looking for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to agree that the Gaza Strip would be physically connected to Judea and Samaria, and that the Palestinian Arabs would enjoy freedom of movement between these territories, and into Jordan, after implementation of the "disengagement" plan.
The international consensus is that once the Arabs have the beginnings of a contiguous area under their control, a State of Palestine will be recognized by the world and so come irreversibly into being.
As the US continued the enormous diplomatic effort to jumpstart its stalled land-for-peace process, Israel's left-wing daily, Ha'aretz, revealed Monday the secretary was "very worried" that Abbas would collapse and Hamas would take over Gaza, thereby sabotaging the plan.
"Therefore, Rice said, a way must be found to strengthen Abbas by shoring up the Palestinian forces."
The American solution appears to disregard these facts:
1. The PA and Hamas (and other terrorist forces) have had a working relationship throughout the Oslo process and since the so-called second "Al Aqsa Intifada" was launched in September 2000.
2. Rifles and ammunition supplied to the Arab side by Israel under the Oslo Accords have been used by PA "policemen" to kill Israeli Jews in acts of terror.
3. The creation of a land corridor between Gaza and Judea (the southern part of the "West Bank") would divide the country of Israel in half.
4. Freedom of movement for the Arabs would facilitate the flow of explosives and arms such as Kassam and other missiles between Gaza and the to-be-relinquished parts of Samaria, which is the high ground overlooking the dense Israeli population and industrial centers of the coastal plain.
Rice's requirements also set a precedent for demands an ascendant Hamas will likely make on Israel after the Jews are pulled out.
Nonetheless, the signs are that Sharon is prepared to begin fulfilling these expectations. Before Rice left Sunday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz informed her that Israel would resume coordination talks with the PA at all levels in the coming days, and that he, personally, would meet with the senior PA security official in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan.
This latter meeting would take place even though Dahlan is believed, by Israel, to be personally responsible for ordering a number of terrorist attacks, including the bombing of a school bus in Gaza that maimed three children in one family, and killed two of their teachers.
PA reaction portends dark future for Gaza
In an indication of what may lie ahead for Israel after "disengagement," America's publicly voiced support for PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas's "security efforts" was followed at the weekend by a callous "Palestinian" response to the terrorist killing of an Israeli couple.
Dov and Rachel Kol, aged 58 and 53 respectively, were gunned down Saturday evening near Gaza's Kissufim Crossing while returning to Jerusalem following a visit in Gush Katif to their family there, including a new granddaughter.
While Abbas issued an unsympathetic "condemnation" of the attack citing its poor timing, Palestinian Authority-controlled media Sunday hailed the killers as "heroic martyrs."
Both gunmen were shot dead by IDF soldiers, but not before wounding seven more Israelis.
Earlier Saturday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had praised Abbas for his "ongoing efforts to enforce the rule of law ... [and the] Palestinian leadership's commitment to ensuring security and tracking down those who perpetrate violent attacks..."
Her remarks came during a joint press conference with Abbas in Ramallah.
That kind of American approval despite the PA's ongoing non-compliance with decade-old commitments to root out terror and effectively condemn the violent murder of Israeli Jews will only make such aggression more commonplace, warned analysts.
Following Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza, Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Reuven Erlich of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center foresees four possible scenarios, the most likely of which center around unprecedented rocket attacks on Israeli cities, assaults on Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and inter-Palestinian fighting.
Ehrlich and his researchers did not include renewed Israeli-PA negotiations based on the internationally-backed Road Map peace plan in their list of possible scenarios, Arutz 7 reported.
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