Last update - 00:00 18/06/2007
Who will give us a partner?
By Haaretz Editorial
The swearing-in yesterday in Ramallah of the new Palestinian emergency government, headed by Salam Fayad, and the outlawing of the military wing of Hamas opens a new chapter not only in the short life of the Palestinian Authority. If the government of Israel and the international community know how to take advantage of the dramatic developments in the territories with wisdom and caution, it might also be possible to restore sanity to the relations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The line that must guide Israel's policy is that central Palestinian rule - as weak and problematic as it may be - is better for us than the transformation of the territories into a miniature Iraq. A Palestinian address - secular or religious - is preferable to a neighbor with no address. The conflict between the two warring factions and the split between the West Bank and Gaza present Israel and the international community with a dual address. The strategy toward each much conform to the long-term interests of most Israelis and Palestinians in a two-state solution based on the lines of June 4, 1967. In other words, which have been forgotten, "President Bush's two-state solution."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be given an opportunity tomorrow to coordinate positions with the U.S. president. On the eve of his departure for Washington, the U.S. and its Quartet partners decided to lift the sanctions in place since Hamas came to power in March 2006, and to renew economic aid to the PA. The Quartet was quick to announce its full support for the government appointed by Abbas. Egypt also announced that it would work in full coordination with the new government. It is to be assumed that most of these parties will encourage Israel to unfreeze the tax money it has collected in recent years from residents of the territories and dust off the old promises to open closures, dismantle roadblocks, evacuate outposts and stop construction in the settlements.
In light of the deep crisis and the erosion of the Palestinian public's faith in the Oslo process, it is not enough to ease day-to-day restrictions. The Israeli government and the Quartet must resurrect the road map and present the Palestinians with a new and credible diplomatic agenda that will lead to the end of the occupation and a permanent status arrangement. Ehud Barak, the new-old leader of the Labor Party, who was the first (and last) to lead Israel in final-status negotiations, now holds a key political position. He must do all he can so talks can be renewed at the point where they stopped in Taba at the beginning of 2001.
Together with the easing of restrictions on the civilian population in the West Bank and the bolstering of Fatah under the leadership of Abbas and Fayad, the decline into humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip must be prevented. As long as the Hamas leadership reins in Qassam fire and prevents terror attacks, there is no reason not to coordinate with them the opening of the border crossings to allow supplies and merchandise in and agricultural produce out. Starving children and distressing the elderly are neither just nor wise.