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Palestinian Arabs

Israel backs Abbas as lesser of two evils


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
May 22, 2005

Despite escalating ?Palestinian? aggression against Israeli Jews, the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last week approved a package of concessions meant to bolster the rule of PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas.

General Security Services Director Yuval Diskin reportedly advised the prime minister against the move, citing scores of rocket and mortar attacks on Jewish residents in and around the Gaza Strip over the course of several days.

More than 60 mortar shells and anti-tank rockets were fired at Jewish communities throughout the Gaza Strip late last week. One attack was launched from within the confines of a UN compound with the cooperation of nearby PA police forces.

Several Kassam rockets also slammed into the Negev town of Sderot Thursday, damaging local municipal offices.

Abbas's state-controlled media referred to those terrorists killed while launching the artillery attacks as ?martyrs,? and accused Israel of war crimes for eliminating them.

Ha'aretz reported that IDF officials, nevertheless, supported Sharon's decision, explaining that if Israel did not strengthen Abbas domestically, ?he'll fall, and then we'll have to give more abatements to Hamas, which will gain power in his stead.?

That line of reasoning has become a mainstay of official Israeli and US policy.

The gestures are to include the freeing of 400 additional ?Palestinian? security prisoners and allowing the return of deported terrorists.

Sharon's cabinet is set to review and vote on the new concessions following the prime minister's participation in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual policy conference in Washington this week.

According to Ha'aretz, Sharon hopes to use the package of gestures to counter any criticism of Israel Abbas is expected to offer when he meets with US President George W. Bush Thursday. Abbas claims Israel is undermining him by not meeting enough of the Arabs' demands.

Sharon had conditionally agreed to these measures when he met with Abbas in Sharm el-Sheikh in February, but had frozen their implementation when the ?Palestinian? leader failed to honor his obligation to put a complete halt to anti-Jewish violence.

The PA's non-compliance notwithstanding, special US envoy General William Ward in recent days scolded Israel over its constant complaining about Abbas's refusal to combat terror and end the murder of Israel's men, women and children.

"You complain that the Palestinians are not fulfilling their commitments," Ha'aretz quoted Ward as saying. "But what about your commitments?"

Over the past decade, Israel has met many of its peace commitments by transferring control over some 98 percent of the Arab population in Judea, Samaria and Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.

The PA has systematically failed to fulfill its one primary obligation of disarming and dismantling the anti-Jewish terrorist infrastructure.

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