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Palestinians Unwilling or Unable to Make Compromises

(Atlantic Monthly) Elliott Abrams interviewed by Jeffrey Goldberg - Abrams: If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, its influence and that of Hamas and Hizbullah are strengthened. But the problem thus far has been the unwillingness and/or inability of Palestinian leaders to make those compromises and sell them to the Palestinian public. A few years ago when Iran and Hamas were less influential, they [the Palestinians] could not or would not do it - not at Camp David or Taba, nor after Annapolis in January 2009 with Olmert. This stems from a combination of factors, not just Hamas and Iran: extremist positions no doubt have some support among Palestinians; the Fatah/PLO leadership is weak and not fully legitimate; and as implementing any agreement will take years, Palestinian leaders are greatly disadvantaged by a "shelf agreement" where all their compromises appear to come up front.
2010-01-29 08:34:46
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