By Ryan Jones
Apr 02, 2006
Israel would be well advised to let the Palestinian Arabs stew in the mess they have created for themselves, and not provide an easy way out by either jumping back to the negotiating table or unilaterally surrendering more land, former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy told London's Daily Telegraph last week.
Whether by caving to demands to continue providing the Palestinian Authority with money and services or by handing it additional territories under the guise of "disengagement," Israel will enable the PA's new Hamas rulers to gain legitimacy and popularity, insists Halevy.
"Doing nothing should be painful. I would tell [Acting-Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert, 'They need you. You don't need them. Let them stew in their own broth.'"
Despite a disproportionate amount of international financial aid, most of which was siphoned off by former PLO chief Yasser Arafat and his cronies, the impoverished Palestinian Arabs remain wholly dependent upon Israel's economy and public services.
By simply doing nothing, Israel can cause Hamas to fail in its election promise to better the lot of individual "Palestinians," Halevy argues. And if Hamas does not comply with demands to recognize the Jewish state and renounce terrorism, that is precisely what Israel must do - nothing.
"If Hamas thinks it can receive Israel's co-operation while ignoring Israel's existence, it will not wash: Israel will ignore them, with all the dire consequences."
Following his own election victory last week, Olmert and his Kadima Party made perfectly clear they intend to go ahead with plans to withdraw from 90 percent of Judea and Samaria and leave those biblical territories in the hands of the Jews' venomous Islamic foes.
Israel's retreat from the Gaza Strip last summer was interpreted by Hamas and most of the "Palestinian" public as a victory for the terrorists and their campaign of violence against Israel. Analysts concur that pullout enabled Hamas' rise to power.