Three conditions
Ehud Olmert, Acting PM of Israel, has proposed three conditions for Israel to recognize the Hamas-led Government of the PA. These conditions have been taken up in whole or part by most of the Western world including Blair of the UK, Bush of the US and even the new conservative Canadian Premier. They have also received lip service from Chirac of France, Putin of Russia and others. Let's examine these conditions:
1. Hamas must recognize Israel's right to exist. Israel is a sovereign nation and a member of the UN for 58 years. Any other nation or entity must recognize this international validity before any contacts or negotiations can take place. This was one of the conditions that the US and Israel placed before the Arafat dominated PLO entity that became the PA, and was finessed by him thru a vote in the PLC (that did not actually alter the charter). It is impossible that Hamas, whose charter is dedicated to annihilate Israel, would ever be able to change its basic policy and recognize Israel's right to exist. This is it's "raison d'etre." Thoughts to the contrary are mere delusions.
2. Hamas must disarm and give up terrorism. Hamas is a highly organized, disciplined military organization, dedicated thru the use of terrorism to destroy Israel. It is likely that Hamas in a Government role will try to unify its militia with the PA security forces. At present Pres. Abbas, thru his role in controlling the security forces, is trying to prevent this outcome, but it is not clear how long he can hold out. There is no possibility that there will be a separation between the civilian and military wings of Hamas as (supposedly) happened with the IRA and Sinn Fein. Hamas will never disarm.
3. Hamas must accept all previous agreements that the PA negotiated with Israel. It is an axiom of international law that any successor government must accept the agreements reached by its predecessors or face international exclusion. Previous agreements between Israel and the PA are not mere pieces of paper, they have been ratified by international consensus, including the Oslo Accords, the Wye agreement, and the Road Map agreement, that Abbas himself signed. If a Hamas dominated Government of the PA refuses to accept these signed agreements, as expected, then we are back to square one. Hamas until now had refused to accept not only the legitimacy of Israel but also of the PA, and now finds itself nearly in charge of the PA. It is highly unlikely that Hamas could bring itself to ratify all those agreements that it opposed all along. In his letter of appointment to Haniyeh as PM of the PA, Pres. Abbas has required that any Government he forms must accept previous PA agreements with Israel. How this condition will be finessed remains to be seen.
We are now in a truly post-Arafat period of Palestinian history. Previously the PLO depended on the support of the other Arab countries and played a largely passive role. When the other countries (Egypt, Syria and Jordan) were first defeated by Israel and then Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties with Israel, the PLO changed and took an active role. But, they were also defeated and sent into exile in Tripoli. After Israel under Rabin foolishly allowed Arafat's return we found thru cruel experience that the Palestinians were not reconciled to our existence. Having tried the nationalist PLO approach that has miserably failed, the Palestinians are now playing the religious Islamist card. What was the first nation that the leader of Hamas, Mashaal from Syria visited, Iran of course. As the Israel Government has stated, there is now a new terrorist axis, Iran, Syria and the Hamas-led PA.
While Iran and other Muslim countries can donate funds to the PA to rescue Hamas, it is unlikely that they will be generous enough, since they have their own financial problems, and in any case they have never really supported the Palestinians as such, but rather used them as both an internal and international cause. Without the Western funds of ca. b$2 per year, mainly from the US and EU, that has kept the PA solvent with the payment of salaries for 130,000 Government employees, and humanitarian aid thru UNWRA and many other NGOs, the PA will collapse. Its people have been on welfare for so long they have done nothing to support themselves (in contrast to the Israelis). If they want to elect an extremist organization to represent them, then they must suffer the consequences. In order to become legitimate Hamas must accept the three conditions that have been established for them. Apart from some subterfuge there is no way that Hamas can remain Hamas and do so.
____________________
For previous postings see: www.commentfromisraelblog.blogspot.com
1. Hamas must recognize Israel's right to exist. Israel is a sovereign nation and a member of the UN for 58 years. Any other nation or entity must recognize this international validity before any contacts or negotiations can take place. This was one of the conditions that the US and Israel placed before the Arafat dominated PLO entity that became the PA, and was finessed by him thru a vote in the PLC (that did not actually alter the charter). It is impossible that Hamas, whose charter is dedicated to annihilate Israel, would ever be able to change its basic policy and recognize Israel's right to exist. This is it's "raison d'etre." Thoughts to the contrary are mere delusions.
2. Hamas must disarm and give up terrorism. Hamas is a highly organized, disciplined military organization, dedicated thru the use of terrorism to destroy Israel. It is likely that Hamas in a Government role will try to unify its militia with the PA security forces. At present Pres. Abbas, thru his role in controlling the security forces, is trying to prevent this outcome, but it is not clear how long he can hold out. There is no possibility that there will be a separation between the civilian and military wings of Hamas as (supposedly) happened with the IRA and Sinn Fein. Hamas will never disarm.
3. Hamas must accept all previous agreements that the PA negotiated with Israel. It is an axiom of international law that any successor government must accept the agreements reached by its predecessors or face international exclusion. Previous agreements between Israel and the PA are not mere pieces of paper, they have been ratified by international consensus, including the Oslo Accords, the Wye agreement, and the Road Map agreement, that Abbas himself signed. If a Hamas dominated Government of the PA refuses to accept these signed agreements, as expected, then we are back to square one. Hamas until now had refused to accept not only the legitimacy of Israel but also of the PA, and now finds itself nearly in charge of the PA. It is highly unlikely that Hamas could bring itself to ratify all those agreements that it opposed all along. In his letter of appointment to Haniyeh as PM of the PA, Pres. Abbas has required that any Government he forms must accept previous PA agreements with Israel. How this condition will be finessed remains to be seen.
We are now in a truly post-Arafat period of Palestinian history. Previously the PLO depended on the support of the other Arab countries and played a largely passive role. When the other countries (Egypt, Syria and Jordan) were first defeated by Israel and then Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties with Israel, the PLO changed and took an active role. But, they were also defeated and sent into exile in Tripoli. After Israel under Rabin foolishly allowed Arafat's return we found thru cruel experience that the Palestinians were not reconciled to our existence. Having tried the nationalist PLO approach that has miserably failed, the Palestinians are now playing the religious Islamist card. What was the first nation that the leader of Hamas, Mashaal from Syria visited, Iran of course. As the Israel Government has stated, there is now a new terrorist axis, Iran, Syria and the Hamas-led PA.
While Iran and other Muslim countries can donate funds to the PA to rescue Hamas, it is unlikely that they will be generous enough, since they have their own financial problems, and in any case they have never really supported the Palestinians as such, but rather used them as both an internal and international cause. Without the Western funds of ca. b$2 per year, mainly from the US and EU, that has kept the PA solvent with the payment of salaries for 130,000 Government employees, and humanitarian aid thru UNWRA and many other NGOs, the PA will collapse. Its people have been on welfare for so long they have done nothing to support themselves (in contrast to the Israelis). If they want to elect an extremist organization to represent them, then they must suffer the consequences. In order to become legitimate Hamas must accept the three conditions that have been established for them. Apart from some subterfuge there is no way that Hamas can remain Hamas and do so.
____________________
For previous postings see: www.commentfromisraelblog.blogspot.com
posted by Jack Cohen at 9:02 AM
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