America and Israel have to walk a very narrow line in defining their
relations with a democratically elected Palestinian government built around
Hamas, a party that not only endorses terrorism but also commits it. They
cannot possibly give political recognition or financial aid to such a
government. Neither can any country that claims to oppose terrorism. That
defines the right side of the line.
On the wrong side lies the kind of deliberate destabilization that,
according to a report by our Times colleague Steven Erlanger, Washington and
Jerusalem are now discussing. That would involve a joint American-Israeli
campaign to undermine a Hamas government by putting impossible demands on
it, starving it of money and putting even greater restrictions on the
Palestinians with an eye toward forcing new elections that might propel the
defeated and discredited Fatah Party back to power.
Set aside the hypocrisy such a course would represent on the part of the two
countries that have shouted the loudest about the need for Arab democracy,
and consider the probable impact of such an approach on the Palestinians.
They are already driven to distraction by fury, frustration and poverty. Is
it really possible to expect that more punishment from the Israelis and the
Americans, this time for not voting the way we wanted them to, would lead
them to abandon Hamas?
In the long, sorry history of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, there is not
a shred of evidence to support the notion that pushing the Palestinian
population into more economic desperation would somehow cause them to
moderate their political views. In fact, experience teaches the exact
opposite.
Fatah lost last month's election because its incompetence and corruption
drove Palestinian voters into the arms of the more austere,
social-services-oriented Hamas. If the new government fails to deliver
because it puts continued terrorism over the well-being of the Palestinian
people, it may indeed be booted out of office. But a Hamas that could
explain continued Palestinian misery by a deliberate American-Israeli plan
to reverse the democratic verdict of the polls would be likely to become
only stronger.
Washington publicly asserts that no such plan is being discussed. A far
wiser course for the United States to pursue would be to step back and
desist from deliberately provoking the Palestinians, and give Hamas a chance
to reconsider its own options. Some hints about its intentions may emerge
from the way its leaders respond to overtures by the Russian president,
Vladimir Putin. Last week, Mr. Putin indicated that he intended to invite
them to Moscow for a visit.
Mr. Putin's move was controversial in the West, and perhaps he should have
provided more warning. But that would be a minor snub indeed if he prods
Hamas toward renouncing terrorism, accepting Israel's right to exist and
reviving the peace process.
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