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"The Sharonization of Hamas" by Debra DeLee, APN President & CEO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 30, 2005 CONTACT: Lewis Roth - (202) 728-1893 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's recent statement that he would withhold Israeli cooperation from Palestinian legislative elections in January if Hamas candidates take part flies in the face of his own experience with the moderating influence that holding public responsibility can have on extremist views. In explaining his 180 degree turn from being a strong advocate of Israeli ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 30, 2005

CONTACT: Lewis Roth - (202) 728-1893

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's recent statement that he would withhold Israeli cooperation from Palestinian legislative elections in January if Hamas candidates take part flies in the face of his own experience with the moderating influence that holding public responsibility can have on extremist views. In explaining his 180 degree turn from being a strong advocate of Israeli settlements in Gaza to the driving force behind their evacuation, Sharon has repeatedly observed that, "what you see from here [in the Prime Minister's Office], you don't see from there." In other words, it was not until he obtained a position of ultimate responsibility for Israel that Sharon began to recognize the burden that the Gaza settlements imposed on the state.

There is no equivalence between the horrific terrorist acts that Hamas has inflicted on Israelis and Sharon's passion for settlement expansion.

Yet it's clear that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is trying to rein in his Islamist opposition through the process of Sharonization (i.e., co-opting the militants by encouraging them to run for public office and to assume responsibility for governance, in the hope that this process will lead to their moderation.)

In an ideal world, Abbas would decide to round up Palestinian terrorists, place a call to his Interior Minister, then sit back to watch the thugs put in prison or die in attempting to evade arrest. But we do not live in an ideal world. While Abbas deplores terrorism, he wants to avoid a Palestinian civil war. And even if he was willing to launch one, with Abbas already struggling to control events on the ground, it's doubtful that the troops at his disposal would win.

Further, if defeating Palestinian terrorists with force alone was so easy, Israel would have done it long ago. Israel's military might has been vigorously applied to the occupied territories for nearly 40 years. It's chalked up some impressive tactical victories. But it has not succeeded in drying out the swamp of terror. Hamas and its fellow travelers are still around, which is why Sharon is busy encouraging Abbas to fight them.

Abbas deserves a chance to see if his way will work better, with the caveat that he must be prepared after the Palestinian legislative elections to forcefully confront those individuals who continue to engage in terror. It is in Israel's interest to see that Abbas is fortified with development aid and encouraged to carry out internal reforms, as well as to ensure that the Palestinian security forces loyal to him are strengthened in order for him to be able to carry out this task.

It is also in Israel's interest to ensure that these upcoming elections go as smoothly as possible. With its departure from Gaza, Israel will not be able to impede the contests in that region. But it could decide-as Sharon has said-to make it impossible for Palestinian voters in East Jerusalem to cast ballots or for candidates, campaign workers, and voters to move from town to town in the West Bank. If such Israeli impediments are put in place, they would delegitimize any victory that secular nationalist candidates might achieve over Hamas candidates, thereby strengthening the hand of the very terrorists that Israel seeks to weaken. They would also shatter the calm that allowed Israel to withdraw quietly from Gaza.

If the Bush Administration has been less than enthusiastic about Sharon's views of the Palestinian elections, it's because the White House has been pursuing the Sharonization of militants operating in areas under American control. Kurdish and Shiite militias have not been forced to disband in Iraq, yet that hasn't stopped representatives of those groups from running in elections and winning top positions in the current government. If the U.S. demanded that the armed supporters of these candidates lay down their weapons before their leaders could assume power, it must have done so in a whisper.

Hamas candidates did well in two earlier rounds of municipal elections. Lo and behold, they have found it necessary to work with Israelis at the local level in order to deal with mundane issues like sewage and water. And their Israeli counterparts have been willing to talk to them. This kind of practical contact is a long way from having terrorists beat their spears into pruning hooks, but perhaps it points to a way forward.

The Bush Administration should encourage Sharon to let Abbas see if he can duplicate this process at the national level of Palestinian politics. If it succeeds, Israel will be more secure, and Palestinian society will be more stable. If it fails, Israel will still have ample military strength upon which it can rely.


Debra DeLee is President and CEO of Americans for Peace Now.