Abbas Goes All In

This is certainly not a timid gesture:

In a bold political gamble, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority declared today that he wants a national referendum on a Palestinian state that would exist alongside Israel if Hamas and other factions do not accept such a coexistence plan within 10 days. 

The surprise challenge set out by Mr. Abbas could force the deeply divided Palestinian factions to agree on a broad framework for dealing with Israel. At present, Mr. Abbas seeks to revive talks with Israel on Palestinian statehood, while the Hamas-led government refuses to recognize Israel or negotiate with it.

Yet Mr. Abbas’s proposal also appears fraught with risk. It could force a political showdown at a moment when the Palestinians already are plagued by infighting and a worsening financial crisis.

“We differ, it is true,” Mr. Abbas said in Ramallah at a conference intended to put an end to internal Palestinian quarreling. “We see things differently, but we need to find middle-of-the-road solutions.”

Mr. Abbas said the referendum would be based on a recent plan reached earlier this month by a number of prominent Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The proposal calls for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Mideast war. That would include all of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with a capital in East Jerusalem, and would accept the existence of Israel.

That last bit about the pre-1967 borders is significant, in that it includes a divided Jerusalem, as well as ‘the right of return’, and would likely be rejected out of hand by the Israelis.  This gambit is not aimed at the Israelis, though; it’s aimed at flushing out Hamas.  By presenting the most favorable terms even conceivable for a Palestinian state (from the viewpoint of the Palestinians), it aims to force Hamas to show its hand.  If Hamas cannot support even this proposal, then it is, by definition, committed to eternal war.

It will be interesting to see if (a) the referendum is actually held, and (b) the results, if so.  The Fatah position is no slam dunk, as the strong showing of Hamas in the recent elections showed…

One Response to “Abbas Goes All In”

1. 1 Sean P Says:
   May 25th, 2006 at 8:41 pm

   I don’t think the issue Abbas is trying to “flush out” is whether Hamas is rejectionist, but whether Hamas is at least willing to pretend otherwise long enough to convince Europe to go back to funding their government.

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