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Washington Needs to Help Cut Off Outside Aid to Hamas
(New York Times) Jonathan Schanzer - To help bring about peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Washington must bring an end to the activities of outside malefactors who fan the flames of this conflict by supporting violent Palestinian radical groups like Hamas. One good place to start would be Qatar, which provides Hamas a range of support, from financial backing to political cover to an external headquarters in Doha. Similarly, Turkey must be held to account for its ongoing material and political support to Hamas, as well as sheltering at least one known Hamas operative. More important, Iran must be held to account for its weapons smuggling, weapons training, Islamist indoctrination and the financing of terrorism. Gaza is now set to receive billions of dollars in international aid to help rebuild after the war. This will need to be monitored carefully, to ensure that funds are not diverted - as they have been in recent years - to buy rockets, build commando tunnels or prepare for the next round of conflict. The writer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Treasury Department, is vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.