President Barack Obama makes a statement to reporters in the White House after his meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, left, and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
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Palestinian Authority: Just Who's in Charge?
Unlike Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is fully
committed to the two-state solution being championed by the Obama
Administration. The problem, however, is that Abbas is plainly no longer
representative of those on whose behalf he negotiates — and that means he
has precious little ability to deliver on any promises he makes to the
Israelis or Americans. His term of office formally expired in January, and
that month's Israeli offensive in Gaza reduced his popularity to an all-time
low. Were a new Palestinian election to be held today, it's doubtful
that Abbas would even win the nomination of his own Fatah party, much less
be able to beat a Hamas candidate at the polls. Hamas remains
the majority party in the Palestinian legislature; it controls all of Gaza
following a violent showdown in 2007 that saw Abbas' supporters ejected from
power. Hamas may also be even more popular than Fatah in the
Abbas-controlled West Bank, where free political activity is suppressed by
Israeli and Palestinian security forces. (See pictures of Gaza after Israel's offensive)
The Gaza war made clear to all sides that Hamas could not be eliminated, and that everything from the urgent business of rebuilding the shattered territory to negotiating a peace deal with Israel could not be done without the organization's consent. Hence the current efforts to broker a unity government backed by both Fatah and Hamas. But as things stand, the U.S. wants that government to endorse the same principles it has demanded that Hamas embrace as a precondition for recognition: Recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by previous agreements. No dice, says Hamas, which has its own ideas about how to achieve peace, but on terms the Israelis are unlikely to accept. With Hamas in the ascendancy and the U.S.-allied Abbas in the weaker position, the Administration will likely struggle to implement its vision at both ends of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.