In a manner reminiscent of the popular movie "Free Willy," a new script is being written, tentatively entitled "Free Mahmoud Abbas." As a result of the Hamas "victory," the IDF wants to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas via a series of gestures. Haaretz's editorial page has recommended that Netanyahu listen to the army's recommendation, as though Abbas deserves compensation for the wholesale prisoner release won by Hamas. Dov Weisglass, Ariel Sharon's former adviser on (among other things ) relations with Arabs, wrote in Yedioth Aharonoth that Abbas must be saved because the help given to Hamas constitutes a "terrible blow to the Palestinian Authority."
To put a macabre cast on the matter, the proposals to compensate Abbas imply that he did not kill a sufficient number of Jews, and did not capture enough hostages, to extort Israeli public opinion; and he thereby transferred prime ownership of the violent struggle to Hamas.
I do not know whether it is the army's job to deliver proposals that fall under the government's authority. At any event, if such recommendations were furnished in the past, they did not always turn out well. Mahmoud Abbas is a big boy and he knows exactly what he wants or doesn't want.
To a certain extent there is an identity of interests between the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Both sides really want to attain a peace settlement based on concessions, but are not making a great effort to grab the bull by the horns. Mahmoud Abbas lives well in Ramallah, and enjoys meeting prominent personages and international envoys. He even takes Bibi with him for a number of jaunts around the globe.
If Mahmoud Abbas really wanted to establish a Palestinian state, he would take advantage of the commitment expressed by Netanyahu to the two-state solution in the latter's programmatic Bar-Ilan address. Before Netanyahu rose to power, Abbas conducted close negotiations with Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak, all of whom truly wanted a peace deal. He also could have seized proposals offered by these three. For years, prisoners were freed for him, he received assistance in the formation of security forces, he was helped to secure money from the Americans, and he received land swap offers. Yet despite the good atmosphere in these talks, he would say "no."
One participant in these talks reported that despite the fact Abbas was an adamant rejectionist, he also came across as a nicely compelling non-partner. This is in contrast to Yasser Arafat, who sandwiched Oslo peace-making between two intifadas. The justification for conferring the Nobel Peace Prize to Arafat was similar to the rationale for the prize's conferral to Obama. The prize was given for blowing air bubbles. The excuse cited by Arafat was that the founder of the Palestinian liberation movement cannot afford to be remembered by history as the person who agreed to portioning the land, and to relinquishing Greater Palestine. That means not only Israel is the goal, but also Jordan. It's no coincidence that King Hussein and his successor have insisted that the Jordan Valley remains in Israel's possession should an agreement be reached.
With Salam Fayyad's help, Mahmoud Abbas has done good things for residents of the Palestinian Authority. He has whetted their appetite for a taste of a secure, normal life. This accomplishment is similar to what the Jewish Yishuv did before Israel was established.\
However, instead of insisting on all sorts of negotiation conditions, and playing hurt and angry two or three times a week, Abbas should have forced Israel's government to honor its stated commitment to a peace settlement.
The PA's gambit to attain unilateral recognition at the UN was a non-starter for peace, and also a recipe for continuing dispute. It also strengthened figures like Lieberman and Likud extremists. The Islamic states, which refused to recognize the Palestinian state in 1947, are today larger in number and more extremist in character, and they will cause the next tragedy to befall upon the Palestinians.
Abbas can contend that Netanyahu does not really want a peace agreement. Construction in Jerusalem at exactly this moment does, in fact, raise suspicion. Yet by nursing insults or threatening resignation, Abbas only makes it easier for extremists to scuttle any peace deal.
Some words to Abbas: Don't pay attention to Lieberman when he declares your resignation would be a blessing, and that he would even send a box of chocolates. Nor should you take seriously proposals that Israel ought to conduct negotiations with Hamas. After completing its effort to free all the terrorists, Hamas will concentrate on the attempt to gain control of the PA, and it will try to undermine anything you have accomplished up to now. That's neither in your interest nor in ours.
The moment Abbas really wants to make a deal, we are here to save him from himself. Those who knew how to come out in droves for the price of cottage cheese and housing will know how to turn worlds upside down to gain peace.
Front Page Features