The N Y Times in an editorial today praises Abbas as a great leader and hero for his sacking of a few security chiefs in Gaza and his promise to maintain the cease-fire. In return the paper places the burden now on Mr. Sharon to make a pile of concessions on settlements etc.
ONE PRUNE DOES NOT MAKE A TZIMIS
• No terrorist or group has been disarmed (compare to the IRA,Bosnia, Fallujah) which will be the only path to security
• Hamas and Islamic Jihad have only conditionally accepted an unofficial truce. To me it’s a virtual cease-fire not visible to the objective observer( They can initiate terror as they please )
• Rockets are still hitting settlements. Thirty katushas on Thursday hit Gush Katif, Morag, Atzmona and Neve Dekalim There was property damage.
• Suicide attempts have been intercepted since the Sharm meeting
When IDF intelligence gave the PA a list of middle level terrorists to intercept, they were all warned that “the Israelis are after you “
Yes we are hopeful, but we haven’t gotten to the first step. A total cessation of violence and terror accompanied by the disarming of all unauthorized individuals is the initial minimal step. There should be consolidation of the dozen or so “security groups” into one which will be controlled and answerable to a civilian leadership .There must be the application of the rule of law with proper trained and supervised police with a justice system and courts that will properly punish offenders.
When we see the above take place with Israeli-PA security cooperation we can then examine where to go from there. For now it’s still a dangerous situation that requires much improvement to even make a dent in the political-security situation.
