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Photo: AP
Mahmoud Abbas. 'Not only a perfidious partner, but an undesirable partner'
Photo: AP

Why Abbas is worse than Hamas

Op-ed: It would be far easier for Israel to highlight evil intentions of Palestinian leaders if it negotiated with Islamists rather than placating PA by regularly releasing terrorists and paying homage to its antics.

Now that US Secretary of State John Kerry has laid the brunt of the blame on Israel for the breakdown of negotiations, the usual invectives against the Obama administration are being heard in Israel.

 

 

Before Israelis rally to bash the current US administration, it might be wise to reflect on whether Israel has committed a strategic blunder by negotiating with Mahmoud Abbas in the first place.

 

There is solid evidence to believe that the Palestinian Authority leadership is not only a perfidious partner, but more fundamentally, that it is an undesirable partner.

 

In order to understand this, it is useful to imagine what the reaction of Israeli taxpayers would be if its government were negotiating the sale of valuable real-estate with a corporation that had filed for bankruptcy and whose creditors were criminals intent on using the purchased real estate to raid the neighborhood.

 

Although this scenario may appear ludicrous, it is a faithful representation of the current situation facing Israel in the West Bank and Gaza. The corporation that has filed for bankruptcy is the Palestinian Authority. Why? Not only does evidence suggest that its chairman exploits his position to line the pockets of his relatives, but the whole infrastructure of bureaucratic patronage upon which his authority resides is based on foreign subsidies.

 

This scandalous situation is compounded by the fact that the current leadership lost the last free elections held and that thus for eight years its rule has enjoyed no real legitimacy. The creditors in this scenario are Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are bound to gain the upper-hand once the patronage- and corruption-riddled Palestinian Authority leadership is replaced.

 

Stronger position for legitimate demands

At this point, the insightful reader might wonder why the international community is so committed to this cession. The international community can be compared to a real-estate agency which cashes hefty commissions from any transaction. In this case the hefty commissions are the fantastic PR, photo-ops, ceremonies, and Noble peace prizes reserved for politicians who craft diplomatic deals in the Middle East.

 

Given this scenario, what should the Israeli public demand? An outright cancellation of the deal might perhaps be injudicious. Ownership of the above-mentioned real-estate does entail heavy diplomatic and demographic costs. The obvious alternative is to demand that the bankrupt corporation disavow its creditors.

 

Indeed, Israel should not negotiate with the Palestinian Authority until the latter openly condemns both the goals and tactics of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Furthermore Israel should consider bypassing the bankrupt corporation aka Palestinian Authority to negotiate directly with the creditors.

 

It would be far easier for Israel to highlight the evil intentions of Palestinian leaders if it negotiated with Islamists rather than placating the Palestinian Authority by regularly releasing terrorists and paying homage to its antics.

 

Negotiating with Hamas might push the latter to pay lip service to peace in English, whilst it remains loyal to its original intentions in Arabic. Nevertheless, is this not exactly what the Palestinian Authority does at present?

 

The advantage for Israel in negotiating with an organization that has a dreadful reputation like Hamas would be a stronger position from which to make legitimate demands. Unfortunately, the oft-repeated mantra that the Palestinian Authority leadership is a moderate force has eroded international sympathy for Israel’s security concerns. These security concerns would be viewed as legitimate if Israel were instead negotiating with Hamas.

 

So let us not blame Kerry for the strategic negotiation blunder Israel has made. One does not need an MBA to know that when one negotiates with dishonest dealers one is charged the heftiest price and obtains the poorest produce.

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.11.14, 22:51
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