One Minute to Midnight Dr. Irving Moskowitz THE PLO-HAMAS ALLIANCE Shortly after one of the recent Arab terrorist attacks against Israel, PLO "sources" told Israeli journalists that the PLO police had arrested two Arabs in Beit Ja'la, the town adjacent to Bethlehem, who were on their way to carry out an attack in Israel. Israel Army Radio--which is one of the most listened-to national radio stations in the Jewish State--promptly broadcast the news that the PLO police had helped save Israeli lives by pre-empting the planned attack. The nervous Israeli public was reassured, its anxieties about the PLO soothed--but not for long. Just a few hours later, Israel Television broadcast a statement by the PLO-appointed governor of the Bethlehem region, emphatically denying that his police had arrested anybody. The Beit Jala episode encapsulates the dangerous situation that faces Israel because of the Labor government's decision to rely on Yasser Arafat and the PLO to protect it from the suicide-bombers of Hamas. Desperate to show the public that the Oslo process is working, the government and its media allies rush to trumpet any unsubstantiated rumor that the PLO may have done something, somewhere, somehow, to comply with its Oslo obligation to fight terror. When the truth comes out--in this case, just a few hours later--the public must again face the grim truth: Arafat has not fought Hamas, is not fighting Hamas, and will never fight Hamas. If the PLO rounds up Hamas members, it will soon release them. If the PLO happens to catch a terrorist who murdered Israelis, it will not extradite him. The Hamas training centers in the shantytowns and orange groves of the Gaza Strip will not be shut down. A few weapons will be displayed at a press conference, to show

that the PLO police are trying to disarm Hamas members, but it will only be for show; the other 99% of the weapons will continue to circulate freely and be used to spill Jewish blood. Why? Because, in Arafat's view, spilling Jewish blood puts pressure on Israel to make more concessions so as to "strengthen Arafat's hand." Hamas terrorism and PLO diplomacy go hand in hand--like two wings of the same bird, as one Hamas leader recently described the PLO-Hamas relationship. Arafat's failure to act against Hamas is only part of the problem; equally troubling is America's failure to take any action--for example, its refusal to insist that Syria shut down the Hamas office in Damascus. Asked about that Hamas office on Public Television's "News Hour with Jim Lehrer" on March 5, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said only that the U.S. would "discuss the issue" with the Syrian government. But the time for pleasant discussions with the Syrians should be over. The U.S. should tell Syria that the entire future of U.S.-Syrian relations depends on an immediate end to Syrian sponsorship of terrorism, including an immediate shutdown of the Hamas office in Damascus. The Administration's plan to send Israel seven bomb-detecting machines is woefully inadequate. What good are a handful of bomb-detectors, when this Administration continues to give political backing and $500-million to Yasser Arafat, who treats Hamas as an ally, and whose own 'jihad' rhetoric helps incite the bombers? In the wake of the latest Arab terrorist attacks, the U.S. should recognize that the Oslo process has been a complete failure. Instead of ending terrorism, it has accelerated terrorism. Instead of bringing peace, it has brought war. Instead of marking the end of Arab hostility towards Israel, it has only whetted the Arabs' appetite. In betting on Arafat, the Clinton administration bet on the wrong horse. Better to cut our losses and dump the PLO now, rather than continue down the road to the creation of a PLO-Hamas terrorist state.

Americans for A Safe Israel
147 East 76 Street
New York, NY 10021

Outpost               - 12 -               March 1996