The weakest link

Mahmud Abbas, otherwise known as "Arafat in a suit," continues to be the
weakest link in the world. He cannot take any action, in his own words, in
case he precipitates a Palestinian civil war. Never mind that its going on
already, and never mind that his countrymen are subject to the most vicious
kind of thuggery with no law and order. But, why should I care, its an
internal problem, let them kill each other, unless it impacts upon me. But
it does, in the most terrible kind of way.
Yesterday the suicide bombing of a market in Hadera killed 5 people and
wounded 30. Hadera is a quiet town north of here, that was founded in ca.
1880 by Jews from Eastern Europe. Not knowing the terrain they chose to
settle in a swamp, and were decimated by malaria. No Arabs were displaced
by their settlement. At the time Los Angeles was a small village.
After abandoning the swamp and then returning with a plan for drainage and
Eucalytus trees they made a new start. They also received permission from
the local Turkish Governor to actually build a small building, still
standing, in which 8 families lived for several years. The doctor from the
town of Zichron Ya'akov on the Carmel range (high enough up to avoid
malaria) came down and looked after them. The Hospital where the victims of
the terrorist bombing were taken is named the Hillel Yaffe Hospital in his
honor.
In response to the terrorist incident PM Sharon declared that the IDF has a
free hand in carrying out a broad and unlimited campaign of response,
including targeted killings of terrorists, until the killings stop. This
action is necessary since Abbas has not taken the first step required of him
under the terms of the Road Map, that is to destroy the terrorist
organizations and their infrastructure. On the contrary, Abbas has made a
deal with Hamas to allow them to continue to keep their weapons, and
presumably also to continue their attacks against Israel, even though he
routinely criticizes them. He has also announced a plan to incorporate the
terrorists of al Aksa Martyrs Brigades into the PA security services.
However, many of them have decided not to follow his plan and have instead
joined Islamic Jihad, where they are being paid from funds smuggled in from
Iran. Although huge amounts are being given to Abbas by the naive West in
order to bolster his rule of the PA, he has failed to pay the Brigades
enough to keep them pacified, and so they have left Fatah and joined IJ.
Meanwhile in another example of weakness and/or complicity, according to the
Mossad, huge quantities of weapons are being smuggled into Gaza from Egypt.
This is of course contrary to the recent agreement signed between Israel and
Egypt, but then who expects any Arab State to keep its agreements. The
effect of these weapons have not yet been felt, partly because they have not
yet appeared in the West Bank, where the terrorist organizations want to
expand their role.
It used to be that Jewish lives were cheap, any anti-Semitic European could
kill Jews whenever and whereever he wanted to. The same applied in the Arab
world, Jews were killed without consequence under Muslim law (a Jew could
not give evidence in a Muslim court). Now the result of killing Jews are
not without consequences for them. The IDF is capable of carrying out tough
actions, and Israeli intelligence is excellent. If we pay a price their
price will be higher. So let Abbas play at being the weakest link, it will
not save him or his people from further suffering and ruin.