Gaza is sliding into anarchy and Hamas is poised to become a real powerbroker after the Palestinian elections. So guess who this NY Times editorial blames for that. According to the Times, Israel didn’t shore up PA president Mahmoud Abbas enough:
Any elected government stands or falls on its ability to deliver security and jobs, and the authority was left unable to provide either. When Mr. Abbas came to power and said the things Mr. Arafat could never bring himself to say about Palestinian violence’s being counterproductive, Israel gave him only marginal support. Israel is right to press Mr. Abbas to follow up his words with deeds, and to do more to crack down on terror, starting with his own Fatah movement. But Israelis also need to recognize that he is not politically or militarily strong enough at this time to achieve victory.
Saying Israel didn’t support Abbas enough gives the world carte blanche to blame Israel for the ugly consequences of Hamas’ expected success at the polls and absolves the PA of responsibility for not taking steps against the Palestinian terror infrastructure. So if the Times wants to see Abbas get more support, the paper should instead call on the Fatah gunmen responsible for the chaos to shore up their nominal leader before he becomes a proverbial lame duck.
