Israel Matzav

What the US should have done

Rick Richman has some suggestions for what the Obama administration should have done in response to the 'Palestinian' unilateralism at the UN.

When Mahmoud Abbas announced his “reconciliation” with the terrorist group the PA was required under the Roadmap to dismantle, and moved to seek a determination of the boundaries of a Palestinian state through the UN (rather than through the negotiations required by the Roadmap), the U.S. should have seen the move not as something to be countered by pre-negotiation concessions by Israel or the U.S., but as a moment of truth for the putative Palestinian state: if the PA cannot meet its commitments under the Roadmap, there is no reason to believe it can meet its commitments under a peace agreement. The PA should have been given a choice: forego further attempts to run around the Roadmap, or forego further U.S. support for a Palestinian state.

The “reconciliation” agreement pledged new elections “within a year” — a transparent attempt to show the UN the two halves of the putative Palestinian state were united and ready to be recognized as a democratic state. The chances of those elections occurring are as likely as General Franco recovering, since Fatah and Hamas cannot live “side by side in peace and security”™ with each other, much less with Israel. But the U.S. should have held the PA to its word: hold your election, elect someone committed to peace with Israel and to prior agreements, or forget about further U.S. efforts to create a Palestinian state.

If the PA is not able to hold an election, or to elect leaders committed to prior agreements, or willing to negotiate without preconditions, or to make the concessions necessary for a state, the U.S. should have no interest in supporting such a state, much less making it a central part of U.S. foreign policy.

Well, yeah, but even today, the Obama administration is: (a) still pretending the reconciliation with Hamas doesn't exist, (b) unwilling to threaten the PA's aid money - in fact it has opposed Congressional efforts to do so, (c) unwilling to pressure any party other than Israel, and (d) unwilling to forgo the effort to create a 'Palestinian state' regardless of how the 'Palestinians' behave. So if they aren't willing to do those things now when the 'Palestinians' are openly defiant of US wishes, why would anyone think they would have taken those actions back then when they actually could have been meaningful? The 'Palestinians' figured out a long time ago what too many Americans are just starting to understand now: The 'Palestinians' get a free ride from this administration regardless of how they behave.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Unilateral declaration of independence (UDI)

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:35 AM