Can We Trust Mahmoud Abbas?
Sermon, February 4, 2005
Rabbi Bruce Kadden

This coming Tuesday, as I am sure most of you are aware, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas will meet for the first time since Abbas’s election as President of the Palestinian Authority.  Both sides have been looking forward to this historic summit, which will also include the participation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan, as the opportunity to bring an end to the 4-year Intafada and new beginning to the peace process. 

Actually, the new beginning occurred the day that Yassar Arafat died; since then there have been a number of developments that have brought newfound hope.  Indeed, many observers are exuberant about the possibility of peace.  It is indeed a time for optimism and hope, but this attitude should be tempered with realism, for there is a long way to go before peace will be achieved and many significant obstacles need to be overcome.

In a recent article, Uri Dromi, director of International Outreach at the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem, and a veteran of the Oslo process, cites Oscar Wilde’s comment about marriage as a guide to understanding what is happening.  Wilde wrote, “Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.  Second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience.”

We are, no doubt, at a time when hope is triumphing over experience.  For based upon experience, the horrible price that Israel has paid because of the terrorism that resulted from the complete breakdown of the peace process, Israel should not even entertain the possibility of diplomatic discussions.

But a combination of reality and our ever-abiding hope are currently propelling Sharon to the peace table.  The reality is that Israel cannot continue to administer territories that are home to millions of Palestinians and protect small, isolated Jewish settlements. Sharon recognized that when he decided that Israel would unilaterally withdraw from Gaza. 

Although Sharon’s withdrawal plan has provoked large-scale protests—more than 100,000 demonstrated last week—and an effort to pressure members of the military to refuse to follow orders to evacuate the settlers, there is no doubt that it is supported by a majority of Israelis.  The demand of many settlers for a referendum on the matter, although not totally unreasonable, is disingenuous, for even if such a measure passed, the settlers would not suddenly end their opposition to the plan.

And any final peace settlement will certainly require the dismantling of some of the settlements in the West Bank as well. 

But the real test, and perhaps the ultimate success of the peace plan, may hinge on the rebuilding of the Palestinian economy, which has been devastated by the Intafada.  Tens of thousands of Palestinians used to work in Israel, in construction or in the fields, but now only a small number do. 

The United States and European countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help the Palestinian economy.  If this money is used for building projects and development, offering much-needed employment then hopefully Palestinian citizens will recognize the value of peace.  But if the money is squandered or misspent, or even worse, funneled to purchasing arms for terrorists, then it will indicate the futility of such efforts.  There may be no person better qualified at this time to lead the Palestinian people toward peace than Mahmoud Abbas, but that does not necessarily mean that he will be able to do it.

I believe that we can and should trust President Abbas to negotiate in good faith and to do everything within his power to reach a just and lasting settlement with Israel.  We should welcome this week’s summit as an important step in reigniting the peace process. 

At the same time, we should temper our optimism.  For promises and verbal commitments must be matched with actions on the ground.  Israel has indicated its willingness to take significant steps to improve the political climate:  releasing 900 Palestinian prisoners and pulling back troops from West Bank cities. 

These actions should help Abbas gain credibility among Palestinians.  Abbas has promised a cease-fire and has apparently worked out an informal truce with Palestinian factions.  But attacks on Israelis have not ceased and terrorist activity has not stopped.  Indeed, peace ultimately depends on Abbas’s ability to reign in the terrorists and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.  For terrorist organizations not only pose a threat to Israel, but to Abbas and his leadership as well.

I know that some of you remain quite skeptical, and frankly you have the track record of failure on your side.  But we are a hopeful people, a people that yearns for peace and at this time there is no other substantive peace proposal on the table.

So as we observe the upcoming summit from afar, let us hope and pray that it will bring greater understanding and cooperation between Israel and Palestinians and that it will be the first step toward shalom, real peace for Israel and for the Palestinian people.

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