By Ryan Jones
Sep 22, 2005
As scenes of chaos and armed anarchy in post-disengagement Gaza continue to fill the airwaves, US President George W. Bush Wednesday demanded the Palestinian Authority demonstrate an ability to govern.
But General Security Services (Shin Bet) Director Yuval Diskin told military correspondents the regime of Mahmoud Abbas may simply be incapable of complying with the request.
Speaking to the Jewish Republican Coalition in Washington, Bush said Israel's departure from the Gaza Strip had created an opportunity for the ?Palestinians? to prove both their willingness and ability to implement civilized and peaceful self-rule.
?Our policy indicates that there should be but one security authority in the Strip, which supports peace and economic development,? the president said.
Earlier this week, ?Palestinian? sources told the London-based Arabic daily al-Quds al-Arabi Bush is using US envoys in the region to pressure the PA into setting up a fully functional local government in Gaza and declaring statehood there.
According to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who met with Bush in New York last week, the American views Gaza as a test case for further progress in the peace process.
If the ?Palestinians? fail to prove themselves in Gaza, Washington ?will regard the continuation of the [peace] process as doubtful,? Sharon told reporters after the meeting.
Whether or not that threat is genuine will become clear very soon, if Diskin's assessment of the situation is anything to go by.
The PA's ability to ?enforce [it's authority] on the ground is slim,? said Diskin in his first on-the-record briefing since taking over as head of the GSS earlier this summer.
Hamas, on the other hand, continues to grow in both popularity and strength, and is becoming increasingly defiant to PA rule as parliamentary elections near.
?Hamas has established itself as an equal power to the PA, and refuses to bow to its commands,? the security chief said.
Diskin urged the government to hold fast to its demand that Hamas not be allowed to participate in the election. Polls show the group garnering up to 40 percent of the vote, giving it considerable influence over the peace process with Israel.
The Bush Administration wants Israel to drop the issue, and allow ?Palestinian? democracy to evolve at its own pace.