I seriously doubt that any  careful observer of politics or diplomacy in the Middle East for the last ten years expected that things would go smoothly with this latest effort at making peace – it was not hard to predict that the looming end of the settlement freeze, the fractious nature of both Israeli and Palestinian internal politics and the presence of Hamas in Gaza might somehow enter into the equation and present significant obstacles for both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas. Even though I have spent time in Israel and lived in Jerusalem, even though I know that there are not infrequent terror attacks involving guns, knives and bulldozers in the West Bank and Jerusalem which do not often make the international news, I found myself feeling a little surprised by the brazen nature of the terrorist attack that resulted in the murder of four Israeli civilians yesterday. Anyone who has lived in Israel knows that terror attacks come in forms other than rockets and suicide bombs, but in the last few years the West Bank had certainly seemed somewhat safer.

When I read on the Jerusalem Post website that the “Hamas military wing spokesman Abu Obeida told The Associated Press late Tuesday that Hamas carried out the attack,” I was somewhat surprised that they would do something so merciless and take credit so publicly at a time when support for them among Palestinians seems to be uneven. But then I remembered – this is what Hamas does, they kill people to make a point.  While there is no shortage of bellicose governments and belligerent non-state actors in the region who would like to attack Israel and kill Israelis,  the news that Hamas had actually claimed responsibility for this attack is particularly chilling. I  am not suggesting that Israel undertake another military offensive similar to Operation Cast Lead – in fact Hamas would probably like nothing better than to draw the IDF into another armed conflict which would give them a chance to set up their command and control centers in hospitals, shoot more rockets into places like Ashkelon and Ashdod, steal food from United Nations delivery trucks, knock off a few Fatah supporters under cover of the fog of war, and give the far left a new example of “Israeli Zionist aggression” to protest about, but clearly something needs to be done.

I think it is a good sign overall, and frankly admirable, that both President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu are still continuing with talks, and President Abbas certainly deserves some recognition for mobilizing PA security forces to help find those who perpetrated this heinous crime. Ironically what Hamas may have really done with this act of violence is not so much derail the peace talks or delegitimize Fatah and the PA, but rather spur closer cooperation between Israel and the PA. Such a strengthening of ties could ultimately help move both Israel and the Palestinian Authority closer to achieving the marginalization of Hamas.

 Several years ago I suggested that in order to deal effectively with Gaza (and by “deal effectively” I mean not just putting an end to its status as a haven for terrorist groups, but actually improving life for Gazans and eventually normalizing relations with Israel) that a joint task force needs to be established composed of security, military and intelligence personnel and resources from the PA, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the United States, which could simultaneously begin to provide for all of the humanitarian needs of those suffering in Gaza, while also carrying out a comprehensive plan to identify and then arrest every single Hamas operative in both Gaza and the West Bank. When or if such a plan might ever be feasible is anyone’s guess, but in the meantime, I would not be surprised in the least if Israeli checkpoints were put back in place, and the IDF carried out limited operations against Hamas in Gaza. The latter will require some careful calculation by Prime Minister Netanyahu – he surely realizes that any Israeli military response will put pressure on President Abbas, but at the same time,  he may get some leeway from President Abbas, who is no fan of Hamas and is equally likely to realize that Israel cannot allow its citizens to be murdered in cold blood. It is time for Fatrah and the PA to break definitively with Hamas and for President Abbas to call them what they are – a ruthless band of political ideologues and murderers who are more concerned with smuggling weapons in from Egypt than they are in providing basic services for the people under their iron rule.

It is no longer enough for President Abbas to criticize Hamas – if these talks are to succeed he must denounce them and their vile behavior unequivocally, and in public.  If he does so it will be a sign that he is serious about peace and he will have shown to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the rest of the world that perhaps he is capable of doing what Arafat was incapable of: leading his people in the direction of real and lasting peace.

-Daniel E. Levenson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

The New Vilna Review

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