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What Israel Has to Do
(Jerusalem Report) Hirsh Goodman - The now tiresome refrain is that it's up to Israel to help Abu Mazen and the PA in its fight with Hamas, that Israel should release prisoners, ease things up at roadblocks, provide employment, encourage economic growth, and take down its security barrier in the West Bank. All those gestures would be fine if they would have made even the slightest difference to the ability of the PA to gain the upper hand in containing those who still want to destroy Israel. Unfortunately, easing things at roadblocks and releasing prisoners cannot redeem Abu Mazen's PA; in a nutshell, the current leadership has proved to be not only disappointing but useless. Israel should recommit itself to the road map, its willingness to recognize an independent Palestinian state, as Prime Minister Sharon has, and hope that a Palestinian leadership emerges that can accept the challenge and deliver. In the meantime, Hamas should be pulverized and punished.