בס״ד some extent. Indeed, as עש"ק פרשת וירא 19 Cheshvan 5781 NEWS the RJC poll showed,  November 6, 2020 A collection of the week’s news from Israel those voters who Issue number 1319 considered Israel and foreign- From the Bet El Twinning / Israel Action Committee of policy issues to be their priority 4:05 Toronto 4:43 Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation went for Trump by a whopping 87 percent to 6 percent margin. This validates the conventional wisdom that Orthodox voters, Commentary… who went for Trump by a 70-19 margin, look to Israel as their litmus test. The Jewish Vote Mattered More Than We Thought in 2020 Jews, like other Americans, generally vote along partisan lines By Jonathan S. Tobin for the candidates of the party with which they affiliate. However, it We already knew that the chasm that separates those Jews who also reveals that it’s still possible for politicians to increase Jewish vote for Democrats and those who vote for Republicans was already support, albeit marginally, by demonstrating—as Trump has done— wide. The partisan split between all Americans who vote for the two that they are a friend of Israel. major parties is growing all the time. But is there any gap greater than There’s something else going on that needs to be put into context that between two branches of the same ethnic/religious tree that and understood. separates the Jews who voted for former Vice President Joe Biden and This election was no ordinary political contest. It was as nasty as those who voted for President ? any in living memory. That was especially true among Jews. Jewish As a general rule, analyses of the Jewish vote in presidential Democrats didn’t just disagree with Trump’s stands on the issues; elections tend to be a sterile exercise that has more to do with a contest they presented him to the public as nothing less than the moral for what amounts to nothing more than bragging rights between Jewish equivalent of a Nazi bent on destroying democracy and presenting a Democrats and Republicans. But this year, measuring the breakdown physical and existential threat to Jewish survival. Whatever people of the Jewish vote turned out to be more significant than that. By doing think about Trump, when you consider that he did more to mobilize a lot better among Jewish voters than his opponents expected, Trump the federal government to fight anti-Semitism, as well as align the demonstrated that there may actually be some persuadable voters United States more closely with the Jewish state than any of his among Jews and that they can be won by appealing to their attachment predecessors, that’s an astonishing and false assertion. to the State of Israel. While up to two-thirds of American Jews really do think Trump Yet in doing so, this election also proved that the gulf between is some kind of Nazi, about a third thought he was not just worthy of those who were willing to cast their votes for him and the majority re-election yet also Israel’s best friend. who didn’t is more than a spirited disagreement. It’s a function of a People can agree to disagree about policy choices. However, the stark demographic reality in which the notion of a unified Jewish gap between thinking someone is akin to Joseph Goebbels (as Biden community has been proven again to be a myth. The only way to termed him in an interview) and believing Trump to be a righteous understand the 2020 campaign is to realize that the talk of two distinct gentile is a clash of worldviews, not a polite disagreement. warring American Jewish tribes that neither understand nor want much We already knew Orthodox and politically conservative Jews to do with each other is not a metaphor. It is a harsh reality that must disagreed with the majority of Jews who are non-Orthodox and be acknowledged and taken into account in every discussion about politically liberal. But when you realize that a lot of those liberals communal life. really do think their Jewish brethren voted for an authoritarian and More data will be forthcoming in the future as the vote is studied anti-Semite, then that is a fact that must be reckoned with. The pious in detail. But the initial exit polls of the 2020 electorate do talk, which I have always believed more out of hope than as a result demonstrate that Trump improved upon his performance in 2016 when of empirical proof, that what unites Jews is greater than that which he won approximately 24 percent of the Jewish vote nationally. divides them may be just that, mere words rather than reality. The AP Votecast showed Biden beating Trump among Jewish This election provided encouragement for Republicans to keep voters by a 68-30 margin. That poll roughly overlapped with a poll working to win Jewish voters, even as Democrats can rightly point commissioned by the Republican Jewish Coalition that showed the out that the overwhelming majority of Jews are loyal to their party. breakdown as 60.6 percent for Biden and 30.5 percent for Trump with Yet those who are tasked with trying to bring us together need to stop 9 percent split between minor party candidates and those who pretending that the divide isn’t so great and begin to acknowledge wouldn’t reveal their vote. that these are two warring Jewish tribes that have less and less in Another poll sponsored by the left-wing lobby J Street showed a common than ever before. (JNS Nov 4) better result for the Democrats with Biden beating Trump 77 percent to 21 percent, but it appears that, unsurprisingly, their sample overcounted progressive voters and undercounted Orthodox Jews. By Palestinians Call for Boycotting Israel, Then Ask Israel to Save contrast, the AP and the RJC polls dovetail not only with a Fox News Their Lives By Bassam Tawil Voter Analysis that showed Biden besting Trump by a 69-30 margin, Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat spent the past two decades but also with a previous poll of American Jews taken before the calling for the boycott and isolation of Israel. In the past few months, election by the Jewish Electoral Institute that also showed Biden Erekat, a PLO leader who previously headed the Palestinian getting 67 percent and Trump 30 percent. negotiating team with Israel, came out against the agreements to That makes the J Street poll the outlier. The other surveys all normalize relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and showed that Biden’s percentage of the Jewish vote appears to be the Bahrain. lowest total for any Democrat since 1988 while Trump is the best He and other Palestinian leaders, including Palestinian Authority showing for a Republican since that same year. President Mahmoud Abbas, accused the UAE and Bahrain of The AP poll was also able to give us a breakdown by state of the betraying the Palestinians and stabbing them in the back by making Jewish vote published in . Among the most peace with Israel. significant were the totals for the battleground state of Florida, where On October 8, Erekat announced that he had been infected with Jews comprised 3 percent of all voters. COVID-19. A few days later, as his condition seemed to worsen, The AP showed that in Florida, the gap between the candidates Erekat was rushed from his home in the West Bank city of Jericho to was closer than elsewhere with Biden only winning by a 58-41 margin. an hospital in Jerusalem: Hadassah Ein Kerem. An Israeli Translated into actual votes that meant that Trump got about at least ambulance guarded by Israeli soldiers transferred Erekat to the Israeli somewhere in the vicinity of 150,000 Jewish votes. In a competitive hospital at the request of his family and the Palestinian Authority state where he wound up winning by only 377,000 votes, that’s leadership. significant, especially if it was far more than he got in 2016. The man who worked tirelessly to harm and slander Israel and Given that the RJC invested heavily in ad buys aimed at who condemned Arabs for establishing relations with Israel in the persuading Jewish voters that Trump deserved their votes because of end chose to seek medical treatment in a hospital belonging to the his record on Israel, this demonstrates that the effort succeeded to same state he has spent much of his life demonizing. "Many people are now asking why was Erekat transferred to an When he announced that he had been infected with COVID-19, Israeli hospital? Just a few days ago Erekat was attacking Arabs for Erekat received an offer from Jordan's King Abdullah to receive establishing relations with Israel. But now he has chosen to be treated medical treatment in the kingdom. Expressing gratitude to the in an Israeli hospital. Egypt and Jordan have the best hospitals. Isn't it Jordanian monarch, Erekat did not take up him up on the offer. strange that Erekat chose an Israeli, and not Arab hospital? The Instead, when his health deteriorated, Erekat, along with his family Palestinians need to explain to the public why he preferred to go to an and the PA leadership, ran to Israel for help. Israel responded by Israeli hospital. I am not the only one asking this question. They must immediately dispatching Israeli medics and soldiers to Jericho to give us an answer. They must explain to us why they took Erekat to evacuate Erekat to Hadassah Hospital, where Israeli doctors worked to an Israeli hospital." save his life. Moussa's question is hardly a rhetorical one. It was posed to The irony of Erekat's decision has hardly been lost on many Arab highlight the hypocrisy of Palestinian leaders. commentators. Palestinian leaders such as Erekat can afford the best VIP As it turns out, some Arabs are not oblivious to the monstrous medical treatment for themselves and their families while preventing hypocrisy of the Palestinian leadership. These Arabs view the their people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from going to Israeli hospitalization of Erekat in an Israeli hospital as yet another sign of the hospitals. The issue of Erekat serves as further proof that the current double-talk and lies of Palestinian leaders, who, day in and day out, Palestinian leadership does not care about the interests or health of its incite their people against Israel -- but who run to Israel whenever they people, but only those who are close to Mahmoud Abbas. feel the need. If and when Erekat recovers from his current illness and returns Particularly outrageous is the fact that Erekat was admitted to an to his family, it would behoove him to apologize to the UAE and Israeli hospital for the best medical treatment at a time when the Bahrain for having denounced their normalization agreements with Palestinian government is denying ordinary Palestinians permits to go Israel. Next, he might want to apologize to the Palestinian people for to Israeli hospitals. depriving them of the superb medical treatment that he himself In June, the Israeli non-governmental organization Physicians for received at Hadassah Hospital. Human Rights reported that Palestinian agencies in charge of liaising Perhaps Erekat might also consider thanking the Israeli doctors with the Israeli authorities had stopped transferring exit permit who worked around the clock to keep him alive. Additionally, he can applications that were submitted for medical reasons. The group thank the Israeli medical teams and soldiers who escorted him from quoted Palestinian patients as saying that the Palestinian Ministry of his home in Jericho to Jerusalem. Finally, Erekat might inform the Health refused to refer them to Israeli hospitals or cover the cost of world that he regrets having called for the boycott of Israel -- the treatment in Israel. country he knew he could turn to save his life, no matter what harm Why is the Palestinian leadership depriving its people of advanced he had inflicted upon it. (Gatestone Institute Nov 5) medical treatment and health care in Israel? Because this leadership decided a few months ago to suspend all ties with Israel to protest the since-shelved Israeli plan to apply sovereignty to portions of the West The Only Language Iran Understands is Sanctions Bank. If the plan was never implemented, why are Mahmoud Abbas By Danny Danon and his officials in Ramallah continuing to boycott Israel? In a few days, when the result of the election that has enthralled Evidently, this boycott does not apply when the life of a senior the entire world is clear, the winner will begin discussing policy in official like Erekat, who is the secretary-general of the PLO, is at earnest. Both candidates know the territory well. President Donald stake. Erekat did not want to go to Jordan. He did not ask Egypt or any Trump finished an exciting four years during which he promoted other Arab country for help. His appeal went straight to his Israeli Middle East peace agreements, reached out to North Korea for the neighbors -- who, without pausing for a second, saved his life. This first time and put together his own policy on Iran. For Joe Biden, the was probably the only wise decision Erekat ever made. White House is familiar territory after decades in the Senate and eight Lebanese journalist and columnist Nadim Koteich, commenting on years as vice president to Barack Obama. Erekat's hospitalization pointed out the "symbolic intensity and In Iran, the ayatollah regime is looking at the democratic process connotations" of a senior Palestinian official who, "in his complex unfolding before its eyes with astonishment. Some of them don’t health ordeal, finds only an Israeli medical center and an Israeli understand how the biggest superpower in the world continues to medical team to try and save his life." grow and flourish when every four years, systems are upended in Noting that Erekat had rejected the normalization agreements elections. Unlike its leadership, the Iranian public is asking itself between Israel and the two Gulf states, Koteich that the Palestinian when the day will come when they, too, will choose an authentic official's treatment in an Israeli hospital shows that the Palestinians leadership that is obligated to the public and its needs. themselves "are in a reality of full normalization with Israel." The Iranians, who invented chess, are waiting to see the next Koteich wondered why the Palestinians still do not have a modern move by the player who will face them after the election. Trump is medical facility more than 25 years after the establishment of the leading a courageous policy of withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear Palestinian Authority. "How come the Palestinians do not have a agreement and applying major sanctions, and recently talked about hospital that is fit to treat Palestinians?" he asked. the possibility of direct talks with Iran. "Is it conceivable that after a quarter of a century of the Biden has talked about the Iranian issue many times and establishment of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinians still don't expressed his commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear have a medical center worthy of the Palestinian specialists working in weapons. Close associates of his are saying that it’s possible he might all the world's hospitals? The Palestinians took the entire Gaza Strip rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal and fix its flaws. (in after the Israeli withdrawal in 2005), and instead of transforming it The U.S. Department of Defense is busy preparing for possible into an economic/industrial zone, it became a miserable camp for courses of action against Iran’s race to nuclearize. Before the winner political Islam and an arena for the Palestinian civil war (between of the election is briefed on Iran, he must take into account a number Abbas's Fatah faction and Hamas)." of fundamentals. The London-based Al-Arab newspaper, referring to the medical First, there is no learning period. The Iranians don’t operate treatment the Palestinian official received in Israel, said that the fact according to the U.S. election schedule. While the United States that Erekat chose to go to an Israeli, and not a Jordanian hospital, was turned its attention to the fight against COVID-19 and the Iranian a sign that he "has full confidence in the Israelis despite his public presidential elections, the Iranian nuclear industry went on, as did statements against them." their attempts to hide it and dupe the world. Prominent Egyptian media personality Ahmed Moussa also Second, any deal with Iran is liable to be violated. Before the weighed in on the controversy surrounding Erekat's medical treatment 2015 agreement was signed, Israel took a stance warning against it. in Israel. Moussa said that there are "many questions" about Erekat's Today, after the exposure of the Iranian nuclear archive that lifted the hospitalization in Israel, especially in wake of his attacks on Arabs veil on Tehran’s industry of lies; after the unequivocal decision by who normalize their ties with Israel. "There are Palestinian hospitals, the International Atomic Energy Agency and after a few decisions by there are hospitals in Jordan, Egypt and many Arab countries," he the U.N. Security Council, it is obvious to everyone that Iran is remarked. violating the deal. Third, the only language that leads to true dialogue with Iran is used as outposts against Israel. This would present a real strategic sanctions. Only effective economic pressure motivates the Iranian threat. leadership to recalculate its course. The more time that passes, with the In contrast, should US President Donald Trump win a second clock ticking, we get closer to the day when the limitations on Iran’s term in office, he will certainly adhere to his current policy, which nuclear program end. has been the most pro-Israeli of any American president since the Mr. President-elect: The election isn’t only about the U.S. founding of the Jewish State. These are not just gestures, like the presidency but the leadership of the free world, and in that role, the transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and the recognition of Iranian issue must be handled as a top priority. ( Nov 4) Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, but significant steps, like standing with Israel at the UN and other international organizations. For the first time in history, there has not been one American Trump's Legacy is Guaranteed Regardless of Election Outcome condemnation of any Israeli military of political activity in the four By Boaz Bismuth years of Trump's tenure. Nevertheless, Trump has made no secret of During the US election campaign, President Donald Trump his intentions of entering negotiations with Iran. Should he win re- boasted the fact that he moved the US Embassy in Israel from Tel election, Israel should be prepared for such a scenario. Aviv to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Regardless of who wins, Israel should voice its interests in and Heights, the peace agreements he brokered between Israel and the expectations from any new agreement between the US and Iran United Arab Emirates, Sudan, and Bahrain – and at least five other publicly. We did not do that in 2015, when the Iran nuclear deal was deals that are in the works, according to the US administration. forged, which enabled Obama to cunningly claim that no deal would Trump was also planning to endorse sovereignty in Judea and ever be good enough for Israel. Samaria, but to realize that he had to have been elected for another Likewise, should Trump win re-election, Israel would be wise to term in office. not once again squander an excellent opportunity to "take care of" This is why, as an Israeli, one can be concerned about the results at Hamas and Hezbollah, and possibly even Iran, while Israel has this point, or at least contemplate what could have been achieved by Washington's military, political and legal support. the US and Israel during a second Trump term. This does not mean to It is in this context that we must ask what will be the fate of the imply that former Vice President Joe Biden is anti-Israel – not at all. freshly-signed peace accords between Israel and the Arab states. A But a pro-Israel president like Trump, one who has made his support Biden White House is unlikely to invest as much in the accords as a for the Jewish state such an essential and prominent component of his Trump administration would. This point could prove critical when it legacy, has never before walked the halls of the White House. comes to Sudan, which is in dire need of American aid. Even if Trump is defeated, the legacy he carved out in his four On the other hand, should the US re-enter the Iran nuclear deal, years in office is guaranteed. The Republicans will make sure to this would force many Arab states to enter into an overt strategic preserve his achievements and the United States will make sure to hold alliance with Israel and against Iran. We would likely need to be on to the assets he procured for it, some of which are very important to flexible with Arab states not receiving American incentives and to Israel, too. embrace Arab countries that need us when it comes to Iran. Contrary to the pundits' predictions, a "blue wave" did not sweep Regardless who wins, the president will need to handle internal across America, and the "" they like to label as a historical financial, societal, and political crises. And regardless who comes out faux pas is here to stay. on top, the US will continue to withdraw from foreign affairs and Polls projected a historic landslide victory for Biden, meaning a down an isolationist path. We Israelis will need to do more to stand clear-cut popular statement by the American people against Trump – on our own two feet and defend our vital interests. As a strong and but that wasn't the case. sovereign state, we can. (Israel Hayom Nov 4) The polls weren't just wrong – in key battleground states, the polls constantly created a false representation of a clear Biden victory, and that may have made may Trump supporters feel like their vote won't Oslo and the Lack of Peace By Moshe Phillips matter, so why bother with it. (Israel Hayom Nov 5) Weeks ago, on September 28, it was the 25th anniversary of the Taba signing of the Oslo II Accord — and no one celebrated. Hardly anyone even seemed to notice. Recently, a former high level staffer A Fateful Election for Israel By Michael Oren for Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin penned an article where he The US presidential election is replete with what may be fateful claimed, “Oslo was derailed”; he otherwise supported the longtime repercussions for the State of Israel. Former Vice President Joe Biden, claims of Israel’s harshest critics in the Arab world and beyond. His whom I knew well, is clearly a pro-Israel man committed to the idea that Israeli families living in communities in Judea-Samaria are strategic alliance between Jerusalem and Washington. the true obstacle to peace is untrue. This academic and many like him Likewise, California Senator Kamala Harris, with whom l have strive to recall the Oslo agreements as something they never were, also worked in the past, is also pro-Israel. She and Biden were among and still want to assign responsibility for the lack of peace between the lone Democratic candidates to oppose efforts to pressure Israel by Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to Jews in Judea and withholding aid. Samaria instead of supporters of terrorism in Gaza and the PA itself. Nevertheless, a Biden administration would challenge Israel on Professor Meron Medzini, who taught modern Japanese history two core issues: The first is a diplomatic process that would see the for over 20 years at Hebrew University, made several mistakes in his government shirk US President Donald Trump's "deal of the century" book review article for the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs. The and return to the framework adopted by former Presidents Barack journal is published by the Israel Council on Foreign Relations Obama and Bill Clinton, meaning a two-state solution based upon the (ICFR), and Medzini’s piece appeared in issue 14:1. The ICFR is an 1967 borders and a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem. official part of the World Jewish Congress. The government would reopen the Palestinian Embassy in Dr. Medzini claims that “Oslo was derailed because of continued Washington, closed by Trump as well as the American Consulate in Jewish settlement in the West Bank; heightened Palestinian terror; east Jerusalem, which prior to Trump served as the de-facto US and the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Embassy to the Palestinians. The administration would further renew effectively freeze the entire process after he gave up Hebron.” American aid to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, as But Medzini is mistaken on all three counts. well as other Palestinian institutions cut off by Trump. The First, the Oslo Accords did not prohibit Jewish construction in administration would also revert to opposing Israeli construction in Israeli-controlled parts of Judea-Samaria; so even if Israel had Judea and Samaria, as well as in unified Jerusalem, which it considers continued to build Jewish communities there, it would not have to be an "obstacle to peace." violated the agreements. However, when Yitzhak Rabin became From our perspective, however, it is Biden's stated intention of prime minister, in 1992, he initiated a policy of refraining from bringing the US back into the Iran nuclear deal and rolling back constructing new communities in these areas, and all of his sanctions on the Tehran regime that is more problematic. Such a move successors continued that policy. The only construction there has all would spare the Iranian regime from financial ruin and aid Tehran in been within existing communities — again, something not prohibited once again conquering significant portions of the Middle East to be at all by Oslo. Second, the issue was not “heightened Palestinian terror,” but triumvirate. rather the fact that Israel’s supposed peace partners, Yasser Arafat’s In 1969, he broke away from Habash to form his own Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, were carrying out terrorist attacks. organization after securing lavish support from the Soviets and their The notion that terrorism was only the work of Hamas or Islamic Jihad vassal states. Five decades later, in his mid-eighties, he still heads the crumbled in the face of the revelations that so many of the suicide same “revolutionary” “Marxist” organization, the only difference bombers, shooters, and perpetrators of knife attacks were sent by being that he does so from the comfort of his home in Amman. He Arafat and his cronies. No wonder Israelis’ faith in Oslo was shaken. long ago made peace with the Jordanian monarchy he worked so Third, Netanyahu did not freeze the process. On the contrary, he tirelessly to destroy. repeatedly made concessions to the Palestinian Authority in the hope The problem is not only Hawatmeh’s permanent leadership but of restarting the process — including releasing imprisoned Palestinian the organization itself. The DFLP lost what little popular support it Arab terrorists, refraining from demanding that the PA extradite enjoyed when the Iron Curtain fell, as it was the Soviet machine that terrorists to Israel for prosecution (an Oslo obligation), continuing to awarded scholarships to DFLP adherents, trained its terrorists, supply electricity to the PA even though it refused to pay its bills, and provided hospitals to tend to its wounded and most importantly, freezing all Jewish construction in Judea-Samaria for 10 months. The provided spas and five-star residences to the DFLP’s senior members. PA never responded to any of Israel’s numerous concessions. It is the The Soviet Union availed the DFLP of these advantages while the PA, not Israel, which deserves blame for the absence of peace. populations of the satellite states that provided them, such as Where are all of these mistakes coming from? It would seem that Hungary, Bulgaria and East Germany, were nearly starving. Little Dr. Medzini is blinded by his desire to see a Palestinian state formed wonder that after the fall of the Iron Curtain, those newly free as soon as possible. Dr. Medzini earlier in his review of the 2019 book countries never invited the likes of Hawatmeh again. Be Strong and of Good Courage: How Israel’s Most Important Leaders Yet Mahmoud Abbas’s PLO and the Palestinian Authority Shaped Its Destiny by Dennis Ross and David Makovsky mournfully continue to pay off the fafsail, the assortment of sclerotic writes that “when Donald Trump unveiled his so-called ‘Deal of the organizations and factions (including the DFLP) on the permanent Century’ … for all intents and purposes that plan eliminated the two- payroll, at the expense of the population governed by the P.A. state idea.” So institutionalized are the P.A.’s payoffs to these organizations However, there is no reason to believe that a “two-state idea” that they have a term of their own—muhasasat—that describes the would be any solution at all. After all, the creation of a de facto system of quotas used to allot them. All the organizations have head Islamic Republic in Gaza not only hasn’t brought peace to the region, offices in the P.A. as well as public relations offices, and their it has dramatically increased the footprint of Iran-backed Islamic officials (at least before the COVID-19 epidemic) traveled at public terrorism in the area. This was most recently demonstrated by The expense (indirectly financed by the or by states) to Washington Post‘s October 25th headline “At least 14 civilians killed regional and international conferences. These officials enjoy the by booby traps in Egypt’s Sinai.” pleasure of being hosted, sometimes with great fanfare, by states Jews should be free to live anywhere in the land of Israel. This is hostile to Israel such as Malaysia. not a right-wing position, but rather a sacred Zionist principle that has The factions’ officials are part of the “revolutionary” Palestinian been at the center of the Zionist movement since its inception. The cause of “resistance.” They express their solidarity with that cause “two-state idea” that Dr. Medzini, Dennis Ross, and David Makovsky (and, of course, with the third world) while staying at five-star hotels all advocate involves the forced relocation of Jewish families from in world capitals. their homes, neighborhoods, and towns, just as Jews were removed Occasionally, of course, members of their scant rank and file from Gaza by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement from engage in terrorism. Gaza. That Mahmoud Abbas, financed by the European Union, is so What’s behind the reason to fear that such Jewish families and lavish with these organizations is hardly surprising. He and the PLO their communities would obstruct peace? If the Palestinian Arabs Fatah faction he heads are part and parcel of the same pathology. He genuinely want peace, they should have no objection to Jewish heads an organization that has witnessed only one leadership change neighbors, just as Israeli citizens who are Jewish live side by side with in its 70 years of existence, and this only occurred when Yasser nearly two million Arab citizens of Israel. (Algemeiner Nov 4) Arafat—whom Abbas loathed—died in 2004. At that point, Abbas The writer is national director of North America’s US division. succeeded Arafat as chairman of the PLO and head of Fatah. He was elected to the presidency of the P.A. in elections that took place in 2005, but his term was only supposed to be four years long. No The Real Palestinian Pandemic: Political Sclerosis elections have taken place in the 15 years since, and Abbas has By Hillel Frisch continued as P.A. president up to the present day. To be effective, politics requires leadership and organization—and One could try to calculate the vast prior costs of this sclerosis to to be effective over the long term, changes in leadership and Palestinian society, but those costs are dwarfed by the expense of organizational renewal are also required. such a system continuing into the future. In the so-called “Arab Spring,” there was little leadership or Sclerotic leadership and a dwindling organization mean that in a organization among the opposition. The evidence for this is that in the power vacuum, the possibility of a transition to a better scenario is only two countries where the opposition was effective, Tunisia and zero. Look at what happened to the so-called Arab Spring. Egypt (briefly), the opposition did have leadership and organization. And a power vacuum is inevitable in the P.A. Abbas, who is at In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood had both but eventually least in his mid-eighties, will not live forever. The organizations he succumbed to an even more powerful organization, the Egyptian army, pandered to are aging and ineffective, leaving the situation ripe for which had the ability to renew the leadership by abandoning Hosni competing warlords and Hamas to fight it out for the succession—a Mubarak in favor of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. In Tunisia, the likely scenario for a movement that has, in one form or another, been highly organized an-Nahda movement (affiliated with the Muslim failing for a hundred years. Brotherhood), under a charismatic leader, formed the nucleus of the Palestinian sclerosis portends a time warp backward to a bleak first ruling coalition after the revolution. It is still the only organized existence—unless political leaders around the world grasp that some political force in the country despite its drop in popularity. form of autonomy with assured links to Jordan, the P.A.’s gateway to But establishing political organizations and achieving political an Arab world that lives in peace with Israel, is infinitely better than power are not enough. If those things are to be maintained, leadership either an anarchic Palestinian state beside Israel (the real two-state change and organizational renewal are required, with the one solution) or a one-state solution. (BESA/JNS Nov 5) dependent on the other. The writer is a professor of political studies and Middle East studies This is the major problem the Palestinian political movement has at Bar-Ilan University, and a senior research associate at the Begin- been facing for at least a generation. Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. A good example of the political sclerosis within Palestinian politics is Nayef Hawatmeh, leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)—a terrorist who made headlines 50 years ago as a minor member of the Arafat-George Habash-Hawatmeh