Aiming at Hamas, but hitting Abbas

By Danny Rubenstein

"Does the military operation in the Gaza Strip also have a diplomatic goal? To the Palestinians, it is an Israeli attempt to spoil Hamas' planned victory celebration over the prisoner release it has demanded in exchange for abducted soldier Gilad Shalit. Israel wants Hamas to earn a reputation not for freeing Palestinian prisoners, but for causing bloodshed and destruction. However, the operation is liable instead to seriously weaken Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Last week, two American envoys asked Abbas why he had not yet dissolved the Hamas government. Abbas knows this is necessary, and he has prepared Palestinian public opinion for this move. He and his advisers have been debating between two options for the timing of the dramatic announcement: during the speech Abbas will deliver next Saturday, on the anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death, or during his speech in honor of Palestinian Independence Day on November 15.

But now, given the heavy fighting in Gaza and the dozens of Palestinian casualties, most of them Hamas members, an announcement that Abbas is dissolving the Hamas government seems impossible. He cannot undermine Hamas and its fighters, whom the Palestinian public views as heroes in the midst of a difficult battle, in such a fashion. Moreover, he can only dissolve the government by arguing it has failed - which he cannot do when Hamas is fighting Israel with all its might.

Everyone has promised to strengthen Abbas: the United States, the European Union, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and, of course, Israel. There has even been talk of allowing a Fatah army unit stationed in Jordan into the West Bank and Gaza, with Israel's approval. But no one can help Abbas if the Palestinian street views him as having betrayed the elected Hamas government in the middle of a war.

In other words, the Israel Defense Forces operation in Gaza has greatly weakened Abbas and reduced his political maneuvering room. Instead of making plans to dismiss the Hamas government, he has been forced to demand that the UN Security Council and the international community rescue the Palestinians from Israel's onslaught. All the statements by Israeli spokesmen about efforts to strengthen Abbas have been rendered worthless by the bloodshed and destruction in Beit Hanun. "