J Street Priorities Need Adjusting

J Street, the relatively new DC-based organization which says it's pro-Israel but takes positions contrary to Israel's best interests because it misunderstands the roots of the Arab-Israeli conflict, is advertising an event in DC in November.

J Street will host two speakers from UNRWA in Gaza, the United Nations agency charged with caring for Palestinians and their descendants dislocated as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

The speakers will address the "the impact of unremitting conflict on the people of Gaza."

What about the impact on the people of Israel? If the context is the conflict, then J Street's priority, as a "pro-Israel" organization, should be with Israel.

Only if the context is Hamas's failed leadership in Gaza, which has served only to perpetuate the conflict with Israel and the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, then the focus should be on the "impact of the people of Gaza." This would expose Hamas as the root of the problem and increase pressure on the group.

The fact that J Street is more concerned about the impact of Gaza-Israel cross-border hostilities on Palestinians than Israelis is further evidence that this purportedly pro-Israel organization's priorities are misaligned with Israel's best interests. J Street should work to help defeat Hamas in Gaza and free Palestinians there from Hamas repression and terrorism. Seeking to blame Israel for the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza lets Hamas off the hook and only further delays the peace that J Street and the rest of us so much desire. This is why the policies of J Street hurt, not help, Israel and why J Street is not "pro-Israel" at all.

Poor Timing for Expanded Peace Push

Iran's nuclear ambitions and sponsorship of terror should be curtailed before Israel is expected to concede territory to Syria in accordance with any future peace agreement. Otherwise, supposed peace agreements play into the Arab strategy of shrinking Israel in size while retaining the will and capability to attack.

After accompanying Secretary Clinton to the Middle East last week, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East and former Senator George Mitchell dropped in on Syrian President Bashar al-Asad in Damascus to reassure him that renewed focus on an Israel-Palestinian deal would not be to Syria's detriment.

Mitchell reportedly said, "Our effort to resolve the Palestinian-Israel conflict in no way contradicts or conflicts with our goal of comprehensive peace between Israel and Syria."

Seizing on Mitchell's remarks, Israel's left-leaning, liberal daily Ha'aretz is calling for a renewed push on Israel-Syria talks. The paper says the Israeli government should "seize the opportunity for peace currently materializing" and "achieve a peace agreement that will provide great advantages to this country."

Ha'aretz probably calculates that such an agreement, likely requiring Israel to forfeit the Golan Heights to Syria, will involve Syria 1) expelling Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups from Damascus and 2) ending material and logistical support to Hizballah in Lebanon. It's doubtful Asad would actually ever do so, regardless of what he may agree to on paper, making a peace deal with Israel extremely risky and, essentially, useless. The "great advantages" Ha'aretz envisions from a comprehensive peace between Israel and all her neighbors, then, would not materialize.

Given the extent of the Iranian threat, it is unwise to advocate further land concessions beyond what Israel might make in the context of the current peace talks with the Palestinians. Ha'aretz's big rush to shrink Israel geographically before the situation with Iran is resolved involves too much risk.

Mossad Made Me Proud

It seems like everyone's been on the Mossad's case in recent days. The world's press is after Israel's secret intelligence service for a successful hit on a leading Hamas terrorist in Dubai in which assassins reportedly used fake British passports to enter the country. The Washington Post has led the campaign to expose any Mossad role and vilify the organization. Amid the criticism, it seems lost that killed was a man responsible for the murder of two Israelis in the 1980s and, more recently, smuggling advanced rockets into Gaza to fire at Israel.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports on the many successes achieved by Mossad under the leadership of Meir Dagan, a confidant of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who appointed him to the post in 2002. I had the pleasure of meeting Dagan in Tel Aviv in 2001, months before his appointment. U.S. officials at Embassy Tel Aviv had no appreciation for why I sought the meeting and only reluctantly scheduled it. I knew, however, that Dagan was destined to return to an influential role in the Israeli government. The JTA piece makes clear just how much Israelis -- and the world, for that matter -- ought to be grateful for his leadership of Mossad and how deserving he is of reappointment when his term ends later this year.

Hamas Leaders Safe in Gaza; Fatah's True Colors

The Palestinian group Hamas has committed dozens of suicide bombings, not to mention other terrorist attacks, which have killed hundreds of Israelis. Wouldn't you think Hamas leaders would make for legitimate targets? Why should they be allowed to roam free in Gaza, which they now govern?

The Associated Press has published a photo of all of Hamas's senior leadership at a rally in Gaza on January 2. I'd like to hear Israel's justification for not eliminating them right then and there.

Meantime, in the Balata refugee camp on the West Bank, at a rally marking Fatah's 45th anniversary, young Palestinian girls carried rifles. Wouldn't you expect Fatah -- which the West trumpets as the "moderate" alternative to Hamas and whose leader, Mahmoud Abbas, the U.S. bankrolls and helps legitimize -- to encourage future generations to pursue conflict resolution through non-violence? Why is it so outragous to demand that Fatah not equip Palestinian children with weapons -- real or plastic -- at public rallies? Where are U.S. complaints? If the U.S. takes issue with Israeli housing construction in Israel's capital city, then certainly it ought to take issue as well with Fatah's encouraging violence among Palestinian kids.

The photos were published in this news story which appeared at WashingtonPost.com on January 2.

Combatting Domestic Extremism May Require Compromises

The increasingly urgent task of identifying, locating, and rooting out Islamic extremists and prospective jihadists who live, work, study, etc. in the United States may require that law enforcement cooperate with some distasteful people, much to the chagrin of groups that would prefer otherwise.

A handful of counterterrorism and national security groups in Washington have attempted for years to delegitimize the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. The effort stems from documents made public in 2008 linking CAIR's founding to an effort by the Muslim Brotherhood to spread Islamic radicalism to the United States and to raise money for Hamas.

Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation cut ties to CAIR due to pressure from such advocacy groups.

Now, however, following news that CAIR helped connect to the FBI American parents worried their sons traveled abroad for jihad, CAIR's usefulness is more apparent. The parents provided information to help authorities investigate their sons' whereabouts, activities, and plans.

To the extent that CAIR and Muslim-American groups like it can help law enforcement root out nascent jihadist networks inside the U.S., then the fact of the matter is -- regardless of how disturbing it may be to hear -- that such groups should have a role in U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

Still, U.S. authorities should trek carefully. Relations with such groups should be contingent upon the extent of their cooperation and the nature of their other activites. But today's domestic counterterrorism challenges may require some flexibility. So long as CAIR is not supporting active terrorist planning, it may prove a useful -- and necessary -- counterterrorism tool. CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, who stood before the media cameras to announce CAIR's assistance to the parents, probably couldn't be more happy with the renewed attention his group is receiving.

Fatah Disappoints Again

The Palestinian Fatah movement (we won't call them a "political party" because many, if not all, of its members happen to rhetorically or materially support the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's terrorist offshoot) held a leadership and policy conference in Ramallah, West Bank, last week.

In this opinion article, Jerusalem Post reporter Khaled Abu Toameh predicts that younger Fatah members, who've been angling for greater leadership responsibility in Fatah, aren't necessarily going to be more pro-reform or less violent.

Sadly, the failures of Arafat and Abbas to bring peace to the Palestinian people, coupled with Fatah's humiliating defeat in Gaza to Hamas, haven't turned Fatah into a more respectable, effective movement with which Israel might deal.

Gaza War Cost Hamas Support

While the popular press continues to insist that Israel's recent military campaign against Hamas in Gaza bolstered the group's popular support, a new Palestinian poll reveals the exact opposite.

According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion finds that some 27 percent of Gazan Palestinians support Hamas after the war, compared to 51 percent in November.

Meanwhile, support for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party in Gaza climbed to 43 percent from 31 percent in November. In the West Bank, Fatah holds a 16 percentage point lead over Hamas in popularity, 39 percent to 23 percent.

It is also noteworthy, and unfortunate, that some Gazans simply are too scared for their lives to share their opinions publicly. Said one man, "If I talk about this, I'm afraid that Hamas will come and kill me."

What does all this mean? For one thing, that exacting a military price from Hamas for its continued attacks on Israel can, albeit slowly, erode its popular support. With time, Palestinians will tire of the conflict and rise up against those who wish to perpetuate it.

Hamas Caught Sneaking Cash Into Gaza

It's happened before and should come has no surprise again now.

In November 2006, Reuters reported that two Hamas members were caught trying to smuggle $4 million in cash from Egypt into Gaza.

According to a news report by the Associated Press, Hamas negotiators who had been in Cairo to work out a cease-fire deal with Israel tried to return to Gaza today with suitcases stuffed with between $7-9 million dollars.

Hamas needs the money -- badly. They reportedly have promised to compensate Palestinians in Gaza who lost homes or relatives in the recent fighting. Paying these people off is critical to Hamas's ability to maintain popular support. If it weren't for such bribes, then maybe Palestinians in Gaza would reject terrorists for their leaders.

But not even $9 million will be enough for Hamas to make good on its promises. To do so, Hamas will need $20,604,430. Future attempts to smuggle cash are guaranteed to occur.

According to news reports, Hamas has promised the following payments, in Euros:

Destroyed House: 4,000 @1,885 houses
Badly Damaged House: 2,000 @ 2,200 houses

Dead Relative: 1,000 @ 1,000 persons
Anyone Injured: 500 @ 5,500 persons

Total Cost = $20, 604,430.

It's Not the Settlements

In an editorial today, the Washington Post says that newly-appointed Middle East Envoy George Mitchell ought to make stopping Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank his priority.

Even setting aside for now the argument that Israel won the West Bank in a defensive war and "to the victor, go the spoils," we're a far ways away from even considering what should be the final disposition of the West Bank.

The existence of Israeli communities in the West Bank is not what is preventing peace. Rather, the problem rests, as it always has, with Palestinian intransigence and their unwavering commitment to Israel's eventual destruction.

Gaza offers all the proof necessary of this fact. In Gaza, Israel vacated every last settlement and settler, giving the Palestinians a chance to build their state and demonstrate their commitment to living in peace. They blew that chance. Instead, they elected Hamas, despite its history of blowing up busses and other civilian targets in Israel. Hamas thanked Palestinians by turning Gaza into a launching pad for a rocket war on Israel.

Considering that Palestinians squandered the opportunity in Gaza, the last thing that ought to be considered now is allowing them to squander another opportunity in the West Bank.

Until the Palestinians get their act together, throw out their terrorist leaders, and reject violence once and for all, may Israeli settlements and settlers be "fruitful and multiply." Maybe then, once Palestinians see this happening, they will reconsider and begin making the right choices. Until then, let them suffer and learn from their wrong ones.

Secretly, Arab Leaders Are Thrilled By Israel's Actions

Egypt's foreign minister blasted the United Nations for failing to stop Israel's "aggression," while a Jordanian government spokesman predicted Israel's "invasion" would have "dangerous repercussions and negative effects" on security and stability in the region.

Are these countries, who've signed peace treaties with Israel, really that outraged by Israel's actions? While their people may be, as evidenced by street protests, their leaders, secretly, are thrilled.

To placate the masses and, in particular, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other radicals living in Egypt and Jordan, leaders of these countries spare no effort to condemn Israel's actions. But, behind their palaces' walls, they couldn't be more relieved that Israel is doing their dirty work for them -- rolling back the influence and military capabilities of one of the region's deadliest terrorist groups, Hamas, responsible for dozens of suicide attacks that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians since October 2000.

Hamas and, with it, Iran are growing influences in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and by extension, in Lebanon and Syria, as well. In pursuing Israel's destruction and the eventual establishment of Islamic regimes, Hamas threatens the stability and security of not only Israel and Palestinians, but Egypt and Jordan, who couldn't be happier to see Hamas under attack. If only leaders of these countries were courageous enough to admit so publicly.

"Thanks for Calling"

Palestinians in Gaza should be telling Israel, "Thanks for calling."

According to Israel's Foreign Minister, Israel has made some 90,000 telephone calls to Palestinians in Gaza advising them to vacate whatever structure they're in before Israel bombs it. Hamas has been locating its military operations in or near civilian buildings, hoping to protect them from attack. And, Israel, has been gracious enough to give Palestinians, who know that Hamas members operate among them, a chance to get out and save their lives.

The cost to Israel is that it runs missions against targets given advance warning and risks not hitting whatever persons or weapons it intends to destroy.

Israel also has been dropping leaflets over Gaza telling people stay away from Hamas members and facilities.

What other nation in the world would make such an effort to protect civilian populations? None. What international media outlet would bother to report this extremeand unprecedented act of goodwill? Again, probably none.

A Bittersweet Battle in Gaza

Israel's attack on Hamas in Gaza, which started today, is a bittersweet moment.

It's relieving to see Hamas, which has been firing rockets into southern Israel for months and still holds IDF soldier Gilat Shalit for over two years, finally feeling some pain. Hopefully, Israel will be relentless in its attacks and force upon Hamas a new reality in which it understands a price will be paid for any future instigation.

However, today's violence is, undeniably, also terribly saddening. Palestinians in Gaza could have been better off had it not been for Hamas. Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005 offered an opportunity for the Palestinians there to exercise self-rule and establish a nascent state. Hamas failed them, but Palestinians also failed themselves for electing Hamas to power. As a Ha'aretz columnist wrote, "Nothing has been more instrumental in harming the cause of Palestinian independence than Hamas."

Instead of building a state, Hamas began building an army, with dozens of new security installations, thousands of new recruits, and tens of thousands of rockets and anti-aircraft missiles smuggled via Egypt.

Hamas and Palestinian Authority leaders need to be pressured to help Palestinians along a different path toward reconciliation with Israel. Unfortunately, they won't hear that from Israel's closest Arab allies. Egypt reportedly condemned Israel's attacks today, which Jordan's King Abdullah said "targeted innocent women and children." These Arab "allies" should know better. They should put the blame squarely on Hamas, not Israel.

Instead, the relief from Hamas rule which Palestinians deserve will be delayed and will come only once Palestinians, collectively, have tired of war and rise up against their corrupt rulers demanding change. If that time comes only in a hundred or more years, so be it. For only then will a lasting peace be within reach.

Israel Shouldn't Beg for a Ceasefire

Hamas says a "ceasefire" with Israel since June is over. Hamas won't extend the ceasefire because Israel has blockaded the Gaza Strip and conducted periodic raids there in response to rocket fire and terrorist planning. Israel wished to see the ceasefire continue.

Hamas is importing advanced weapons into Gaza via Egypt, and it continues to hold IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, whom it captured in a cross-border raid two and a half years ago. Now, Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorists are renewing rocket fire into Israel in an attempt to provoke an escalation.

The solution to this nonsense out of Gaza is for Israel to send a strong, unequivocal message that violence from there will not be tolerated. And preventing attempts to seize additional soldiers requires sending a strong message that the price for doing so is simply too high.

When Hamas seized Shalit, Israel should have undertood, like is the case with Hizballah in Lebanon, that the terrorists did not intend to return him alive. Israel should have launched a rescue as soon as possible and pounded Hamas targets until the group either relented or understood that provoking Israel simply is too costly. Gaza should suffer such overwhelming force from Israel that its terrorist rulers would never again contemplate provoking Israel. The price of doing so must be judged as simply too high. Israel must reestablish deterrence.

President Carter's Meeting with Hamas Leader Mishal

I don't know for sure why former U.S. President Carter is such a nuisance when it comes to the Middle East. I can't read the man's mind. But I suspect there are two reasons: 1) he continually seeks to be relevant in retirement and 2) he views the Palestinians as the underdogs and will do anything he can to make life harder for Israel and U.S.-Israel relations. I'm not ready to condemn that man as an anti-semite, though his increasingly venomous hostility toward Israel -- most recently, calling it an Aparteid state -- suggests he just may be.

Anyways, this week, Carter plans to meet with the leader of Hamas, Khaled Mishal, in Damascus, Syria. The Syrians allow Mish'al, and many other Hamas leaders, to live there and conduct their business freely. From Damascus, they plan Hamas strategy, coordinate Hamas training in Lebanon and Iran, and from time to time, approval specific terrorist attacks.

Carter gave an interview about his planned meeting to ABC News, which is scheduled to air on the network's Sunday morning news program. Carter reportedly will say that his meeting is OK because, some day, Israel itself will have to sit down with the group to negotiate peace. That's nonsense. There's no reason to legitimize Hamas and give it a say in peace negotiations. The right policy is to isolate Hamas and pursue its destruction. If the world sticks to that policy, it will happen.

Carter also reported says that he'll "try to induce [Hamas] to stop all attacks against innocent civilians in Israel." What about the group's attacks beyond the Green Line -- in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem? Carter views them as permissible likely because he views these areas as illegally occupied. However, they are disputed areas, according to UN resolutions, subject to negotiation. Carter is prejudging their status by blessing terrorist attacks on Israelis there. And what about that Hamas bombing a few years back in a cafeteria at Hebrew University in "East" Jerusalem that claimed Americans as casualties? Carter certainly wouldn't approve of such an attack, would he? Well, he just did.

Carter says he's "been meeting with Hamas leaders for years." And what good has it done? The group isn't any more flexible in its positions, amenable to unity with Fatah, or ready to agree to a ceasefire.

Carter's meetings serve only two purposes: 1) to bolster his own sense of worth and utility, and 2) to lend political legitimacy to a terrorist group. The world should reject his interference as counterproductive.

Palestinian Terrorists Use Civilians as Shields

A new report from the public information branch of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) describes several recent instances when Palestinian terrorists in Gaza used civilians as shields to prevent IDF retaliatory attacks. In at least one case, terrorists had a child fetch and return the weapon of a terrorist shot by the IDF. On several occasions, Hamas and Popular Resistance Committees terrorists fired rockets toward Israel from within heavity populated areas and used mosque at weapons depots and as cover during IDF raids.

This information should serve as a reminder of the nature of the enemy Israel faces and of the challenges Israel faces in fighting its enemy while sparing civilians.

Terror Groups in Damascus Have No Fear

Palestinian terrorists in Damascus used to meet in secret, so as not to embarrass their Syrian hosts. Today, they held a much-publicized "conference," attended also by Syrian officials, in which calls were made to step up violence against not only Israel but Americans.

Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mish'al reportedly said, "I call for the pursuit of popular anger against the Zionists and the Americans until the blockade is lifted." Mish'al was referring to Israel's closure of its borders with Gaza after an increase in rocket attacks against southern Israel.

The fact that Syria not only allowed the conference but also attended is a reminder of how far Damascus must come before any lasting peace with Israel is achieved, and how fruitless and premature would be any Israeli concessions, or talk of concessions. Also, the explicit threat not only to Israel but to the United States must not go unchallenged. The United States should call for the UN Security Council to rebuke Syria for allowing organizations it shelters to call for violence against Americans. If the Syrian government continues to allow such gatherings, then the United States and Israel should use their intelligence-gathering capabilities to identify, track, and capture or kill terrorists who attend such meetings.