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Hobbling Hamas

(Weekly Standard) Robert Satloff - * Since the triumph of Hamas, Washington's mantra is "no recognition, no dialogue, and no financial aid" to a Hamas-led PA until Hamas recognizes Israel, renounces violence and terror, and accepts all previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements. * Secretary of State Rice traveled around the Middle East urging Arab governments to deny all funding to a Hamas-led PA at the same time that James Wolfensohn, envoy of the Quartet, visited those very same Arab capitals urging leaders to donate as much as they could to the PA. Washington may have terminated its own direct financial support of the PA, but it did little to stop America's European allies as well as the World Bank from sending tens of millions of dollars to the same address. * In practical terms, Washington's current policy does not pack enough wallop to undercut Hamas. Since Arab, Muslim, and even Western states are likely to fill in for lost U.S. aid, there is little chance that the policy will entice Hamas to come to terms with the legitimacy of Israel. * When European powers begin to deal with Hamas, the likely result of U.S. policy will be America's isolation, not the isolation of Hamas. The writer is executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
2006-03-28 00:00:00
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