On Monday the Palestinian Legislative Council chose Mahmoud
Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) as the prime minister of the
Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian parliament granted day-
to-day responsibility for Palestinian affairs to the prime
minister, but left ultimate authority over the security
services, negotiations with Israel, and other matters firmly
in the hands of Yasser Arafat. Still, the prime minister's
precise powers were left vague enough so that the first
holder of the job will be able to define and develop them in
practice.
Arafat announced that Abbas is his choice, but Abbas was
cautious in accepting, saying that he first wanted to see how
the job is defined.
At the same time, in a repeat of the tough talk they issue
every time there is a major Israeli attack, Hamas officials
"vowed revenge" and warned that they would target Israeli
leaders. Israeli security officials dismissed such talk,
saying that Hamas has already been doing everything that it
can.
Israel said that its killing of Ibrahim Makadme, one of the
founders of Hamas and deeply involved in its violence, had
been planned for a long time and was not a response to recent
Hamas attacks. It had not been carried out earlier because
there were risks of harming bystanders. Makadme and three
other Hamas members were killed when Israeli missiles struck
their car. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz described Makadme as
the "ultimate arch-terrorist" and said that Israel is
targeting more terrorist leaders.
In the wake of the Hamas threat, security was tightened
around senior Israeli officials.
In the past week, Palestinian terror attacks killed 20
Israelis. On March 5, a homicide-suicide bomber detonated his
explosives aboard a Haifa bus. Fifteen people died in the
attack. Two more have since died of their injuries.
Two Israelis were killed last Friday night by two Hamas
gunmen who infiltrated Kiryat Arba. The gunmen entered their
home while the family was eating their Shabbos seuda
and opened fire. The dead were later identified as Rabbi Eli
(Elnatan), 52, and Dina (Debby) Horowitz, 50, Hy"d,
both originally from the US. Rabbi Horowitz taught in several
yeshivas including Shavei Hebron. He grew up in Miami and
Washington, DC, before moving to Israel. Rebbetzin Horowitz
also grew up in Washington, DC. Five others were wounded
before the terrorists were killed by Israeli troops. An
explosives belt was found on the body of one of the
terrorists. A settlement nearby was also attacked by Hamas
terrorists, but they were detected and killed before they did
any serious damage. A soldier was also killed on Monday in
Hebron. Hy"d.
Israel has come under criticism from the United States,
Britain and the European Union for the Palestinian civilian
casualties in Israel's anti-terror operations in the Gaza
Strip.
However, Defense Minister Mofaz told the Cabinet on Sunday
that the deaths of eight Palestinians in the Jabalya refugee
camp in Gaza last week were caused by a Palestinian bomb that
went off near them "not by an Israeli tank shell, as the
Palestinians claimed." A video of the incident made it clear
that a Palestinian bomb aimed at the Israelis caused the
Palestinian casualties.
Israeli soldiers took up positions inside northern Gaza after
Palestinians repeatedly fired rockets from the area in recent
weeks on the nearby Israeli town of Sderot. When they moved
in they said they would stay indefinitely, but they withdrew
on Monday, saying they would return if there are more
attacks.
Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat's choice for prime minister, 68, is
considered less hard-line than Arafat. He is a founding
member of Fatah and is considered one of the organization's
top experts on Israeli society. He has a doctorate from
Moscow University on "Contacts between the Zionist movement
and the Nazis." According to the Washington-based Middle East
Media Research Institute, Abbas wrote that Zionist officials
collaborated with the Nazis to create a situation where the
world would agree on the necessity of a Jewish homeland. For
many years he was head of the PLO's Israel desk.
After the 1991 Middle East Peace conference in Madrid, Abbas
was given responsibility for the PLO's negotiating strategy
with Israel, and was the main negotiator on the Palestinian
side in secret negotiations that led to the 1993 Oslo peace
accords. Abbas co-signed the first version with Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres.
Last September, with Arafat surrounded by Israeli tanks at
his headquarters in Ramallah, Fatah officials met at Abbas's
home a few hundred yards away to demand reform.
On Sunday, Sharon welcomed the naming of Abbas, but added
that Israel would "closely examine the extent of authority he
is given."
Beyond the powers Abbas gets, much depends on what policies
he pursues, according to Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
"There are a few things he can do unconditionally, like
stopping terror and incitement," said Shalom.
One of the reasons Fatah people pushed for reform of the
Palestinian Authority is because they sensed they were losing
ground in the Palestinian street to Hamas. How Abbas goes
about restoring Fatah's supremacy could determine whether or
not the intifadah finally stops.
