Dr. Aaron Lerner is co-founder of IMRA, Independent Media Review and Analysis, an Israel-based news organization which provides an extensive digest of media, polls and significant interviews and events relating to the Israeli-Arab conflict. imra@netvision.net.il
Israel backs U.S. plan to spend $59M rearming and training Abbas force
By Dr. Aaron Lerner
April 16, 2007 Bookmark to del.icio.us
Diplomatic sources on Sunday said Israel supports the implementation of the Dayton plan for the training and arming of the Palestinian Presidential Guard, loyal to Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
With all due respect to General Dayton, the pessimistic prediction is that the weapons and the training he intends to give the "moderates" will ultimately be used to murder Israelis. And the basis for this prediction is none other than "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas's oft-repeated promise that he won't fight Palestinians. That he won't risk "civil war". That "resistance" against Israel will be an option if the Palestinians can't get all their demands at the negotiating table. That's right -- a "moderate" is someone who doesn't shoot at you if he thinks he can get his way without having to shoot.
But is there an alternative? Just recently Secretary of State Rice talked about setting up benchmarks. How about linking the program to arm and train the "moderates" to their meeting some benchmarks?
They already have thousands of men armed to the teeth. So why not pick a very limited task - either limited by geography or otherwise - that could already be achieved now if "moderate" Abbas wanted to deliver the goods. And then when he "delivers the goods" Uncle Sam "delivers the weapons".
And "delivering the goods" isn't deploying forces in a photo op. Been there, done that. It's doing things like confiscating hundreds of weapons and handing them over for destruction by General Dayton's people.
If the explanation is that "moderate" Abbas cannot be expected to actually perform then the answer is obvious: If he won't perform with the weapons he has today - why give him more weapons?
If anything this position will help him to justify finally be doing something.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.