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Will Biden-Backed Anti-Terror Law Complicate U.S.-Palestinian Ties?
(The Hill) Matthew Zweig and Jonathan Schanzer - Hamas appears likely to participate in the Palestinian legislative elections on May 22. After the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections led to Hamas' electoral victory, Congress responded by passing the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (PATA). Sen. Joe Biden was an original co-sponsor and the Foreign Relations Committee, then under his chairmanship, approved it unanimously. PATA prohibits U.S. assistance to the PA unless the administration certifies that "no ministry, agency, or instrumentality of the Palestinian Authority is effectively controlled by Hamas." Polling indicates that Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party may not win the May elections outright and could be forced into a power-sharing agreement that brings Hamas into the government. Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Treasury Department, is senior vice president at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Matthew Zweig is a senior fellow.