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Israel and Fatah

As expected, Israel and the United States have taken steps to bolster the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the emergency cabinet that he set up after losing control of the Gaza Strip. The U.S. is set to restart the programme of economic assistance it suspended after Hamas won the parliamentary elections and took charge of the ministries in early 2006. Israel is expected to unfreeze within a few days part of the tax revenues that it collected on behalf of the Authority but has withheld. The two countries had cited Hamas’s involvement in terrorism as the reason for their actions. While the Islamists have now made the Gaza Strip their exclusive domain, they are also isolated on this slice of land along the Mediterranean Sea. They might not even be able to carry out terrorist strikes against the Zionist state since this piece of territory is virtually sealed on all sides. With Mr. Abbas’s Fatah continuing to be the dominant political force in the West Bank, it is in a position to strike a separate peace deal. Israel has signalled, with the approval of the U.S., that it would not be averse to taking such a course and as a first step it might soon lift some of the curbs on movement within the Fatah-dominated territory. There is also a chance of some Palestinian prisoners being released soon.

Over the short-term, Israel and the U.S. are likely to treat Mr. Abbas and his emergency cabinet as partners in the search for a final settlement. The purpose of this exercise would be to show the Palestinian masses that they would stand to gain much if they support the moderates. However, given that Israel has often backed out of deals on the slightest pretext, there is no guarantee that it will be true to its declaration of intent to cooperate with Mr. Abbas and the Authority. It will be taken seriously only if it restarts negotiations or moves to dismantle some of its colonies in the West Bank. But even if negotiations get under way soon, this effort at a separate peace is fraught with risk. The people of the West Bank are linked with their brethren in the Gaza Strip in myriads of ways. One section of the Palestinian masses is not going to be content with whatever prosperity is thrust upon it, if the other section continues to languish in squalid refugee camps. Mr. Abbas appears to have lost sight of this reality when he declared that the Authority will have no truck with Hamas. If he can think of making a separate peace with Israel, he can surely consider the Islamist’s offer of reconciliation.

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