Two states for one people

Two states for one people

Palestinian nightmare taking shape: 2 separate states in West Bank and Gaza

Ronny Shaked Published:  06.14.07, 17:25 / Israel Opinion
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3412688,00.html

Fatah has collapsed in the Gaza Strip; it's gone completely under. Gaza has turned into a jungle. Everyone is fighting each other. The political conflict between Fatah and Hamas has turned into a clan war, a war between brothers. Scores have been opened that can't be settled, and vendettas are threatening to lead Gaza to terrible anarchy. The Palestinians are destroying their future with their own hands.

Within this chaos the state of Hamastan is being created upon the ruins of the Palestinian entity. Fatah is barely able to hold on to some key positions, yet it is clear that the new Hamas reality in Gaza has reached the point of no return. There is no one to stop it.

The US and Israel as well would be deluding themselves by thinking that Mahmoud Abbas and his government can be salvaged. That day has passed, and Abbas' leadership has nothing left to say. Abbas is detached from reality; he is living in the past, ignoring the present and incapable of planning the future. He is still entertaining the hope that he could mend the fences and therefore has still not ordered his forces in Gaza to fight back.

One of the strategic results of the Hamas victory in Gaza is the formation of two divided Palestinian zones, each with a different reality and leadership. The Palestinians' nightmare has been created before their very eyes - separation between Gaza and the West Bank; two states for one people.

This situation isn't good for Israel. It's actually dreadful. The mutual bloodletting in the Strip is not working in our favor. Israel failed to understand the new reality created in Gaza following the elections.

No long-term Gaza policy

Israel didn't do a thing to embolden the moderate camp; the meetings between Ehud Olmert and Abbas were futile and humiliating. Israel didn't have nor does it have a long-term Gaza policy. This vacuum was filled by Hamas, which grew stronger because there was no power that could hinder it from conquering the Strip. Even during the past month, following the Qassam rocket fire on Sderot, Israel missed the chance of striking at Hamas.

The outcome is a new Hamas rule in Gaza that Israel cannot cooperate with, but it would not be able to ignore its needs, because it would have to continue caring for the population and supply its needs.

Israel, even if it really wants to, cannot at this point in time disengage from Gaza, but it certainly doesn't  want to go back there. A temporary solution may come in the form of international forces that would primarily be of Arab composition.

However, the entanglement of that dense piece of land in the southwestern tip of the State of Israel has become much more complex during the past week.