JINSA Report #546 Unilateral Action and the Price of Democracy

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January 27, 2006

JINSA Report #546

Unilateral Action and the Price of Democracy

President Bush told the Palestinians, "The United States does not
support political parties that want to destroy our ally, Israel, and
people must renounce that part of their platform."

Why must they and what real difference does the Hamas victory make?
Neither Fatah nor Hamas was going to make a serious "peace agreement"
with Israel; both Fatah and Hamas conduct terrorist operations and are
planning to continue to do so; neither Fatah nor Hamas accepts the
legitimacy of Jewish sovereignty in the Middle East; and neither can be
induced to do so by piecemeal Israeli concessions. The Palestinians knew
that and voted for the party they wanted to deal with their domestic
concerns.

Rather than demanding what we will not get, it might be useful to remind
the Palestinians that Hamas has not become king of the hill. It has
simply become the majority party in the Palestinian Legislature - like
when the Republicans replaced the Democrats in Congress. As such it is
the successor to the obligations OF the Legislature. And Abu Mazen is
still President and still obliged to meet HIS obligations under the Road
Map. The U.S. expects both to meet internationally accepted standards
of behavior.

Oh, you don't think they will? We don't either; they never have before.
But our government has an obligation a) to insist that they do, and b)
to find meaningful consequences for when they don't.

The President should first stop begging the Palestinians to "return" to
some mythical "peace process" and let them know that since they put
their domestic concerns first, so will we. It would be foolish to cut
off the money we currently spend through NGOs on projects in the PA -
Iran would happily make up the difference, with the attendant political
influence. But the U.S. and the EU should withdraw political support for
Palestinian statehood and decline to treat PA personnel like diplomats
when they troop through Europe and the UN. [This should include the
Olympics - in 2004 the Palestinians marched under their flag as if they
were a country.] At the level of public perception, Palestinians relish
being the political equivalent of the Israelis - they are not and they
should be denied.

At the security level, Israel has every right to assume that the
President and the Parliament will control the borders of their
territory. Israel will be entitled - as every country is entitled - to
unilateral action including "hot pursuit" and retaliation if they don't.
Ariel Sharon first raised the specter of unilateral action when it was
clear that the PA was operating as a state sponsor of terror and could
not be an acceptable political interlocutor. His point wasn't to make
them stop being what they were - he couldn't - but to announce his
intention to protect the citizens of Israel from them.

The U.S. and the Europeans should be clear and public in advance that if
Hamas chooses to maintain itself as an active terrorist organization,
when Israel retaliates, the civilized countries will approve.

To view this JINSA Report online click on the link below.
http://www.jinsa.org/JINSAReports/3301

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