|
|
May 23, 2003/Iyar 21 5763, Vol. 55, No. 39
Latest attacks put Abbas on the spot
GIL SEDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - Tough luck for Mahmoud Abbas. Just as a wave of Islamic terror ignited the Middle East from Casablanca to Afula to Riyadh, and as Israel launched a legal offensive against its own Islamic Movement, the new Palestinian Authority prime minister found himself hosted by his Israeli counterpart to find out what he was going to do about Palestinian violence against Israel.
But with even his own boss, P.A. President Yasser Arafat, putting spikes in Abbas' wheels, how much could be expected?
That was among the key questions confronting Israeli policy makers this week as the country reeled from five terror attacks in barely 48 hours: Is Abbas strong enough to fight the re-jectionists? Does he really want to? And what can be done as long as Arafat is still the Palestinian Authority's main power broker, working to embarrass Abbas and prevent him from succeeding?
As a starter, Israel is de-manding that Abbas disarm terrorist organizations, as the Palestinian Authority has pledged repeatedly to do over the past decade.
Fearful of a civil war, however, Abbas prefers to renew negotiations with Hamas to reach a one-year cease-fire, during which he would rebuild the P.A.'s security apparatus.
However, with the continued closure on the territories and intensive Israeli counter-terror operations and the wave of terrorism, the Palestinian Authority and the terrorist groups are still divided even on the basic terms of negotiations.
Following the terrorist attack in Afula on May 19, Abdul Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, promised to increase attacks so that the Israelis "will pay a heavy price, God willing."
Abbas this week found himself besieged on three fronts: by Sharon, the terrorist groups and Arafat.
Israeli policy makers agree that Arafat appears deter-mined to make Abbas fail. In addition to the control he has maintained over most of the P.A.'s security organizations, Arafat recently appointed one of his proteges as head of the powerful Preventive Security force, without seeking the approval either of Abbas or Mohammed Dahlan, the P.A. minister ostensibly in charge of security.
Meanwhile, some Israeli officials again are recom-mending that Arafat be deported. At the May 18 Cabinet session, Sharon and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz agreed that deporting Arafat now would not serve any purpose, would cause considerable damage to Abbas' political standing and would even allow Arafat to cause greater damage to Israel abroad.
Yet that just highlighted a bitter truth: Palestinian terrorism is alive and kicking, and Israel has failed to come up with an answer.
|
