Ambassador Kurtzner has few illusions about the roadmap or the adequacy of the hudna. He does say - this is the first I've heard of it - that US pressure induced the EU and Saudi Arabia to cut the funding they give to Hamas, and that helped motivate the hudna. Hamas still thinks they can outmaneuver the PA, Israel and the US, though.
Kurtzer says Palestinian PM is a 'relatively weak man'
By Shoshana Kordova, Haaretz Correspondent
United States Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer
has called Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud
Abbas (Abu Mazen) a "relatively weak man" who
tends to "run away from problems."
Speaking Monday evening to some 150 rabbis and Jewish lay
leaders in Jerusalem, Kurtzer said Abbas is "doing a little
bit better," in part due to U.S. pressure.
"It's not easy to change behavior patterns after that many years," he told the group, which is attending summer seminars at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
American support of Abbas is secondary to the U.S. desire to remove Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat from power, Kurtzer added. "Our objective was not to empower an
individual named Abu Mazen; our objective was to disempower an individual named Arafat."
The ultimate goal, Kurtzer said, is to see the recently created prime ministerial structure institutionalized in "a serious Palestinian constitution that will outlive its incumbent."
"Abu Mazen, we know, is a relatively weak man," who tends to "run away from problems rather than try to solve them," Kurtzer said.
Abbas' perceived weakness could make it difficult for the PA to subordinate groups such as Hamas under a national governing body, which Kurtzer said the PA must do if the Palestinians want to "get their act together."
"The analytical assumption," Kurtzer said, "is that it has to happen in the next few months."
The fragile temporary cease-fire agreement could still be undone by what Kurtzer called "a game of chicken" between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to see "who can do better as a result of this hudna (truce)." He said Hamas does not believe it will be dismantled, and that there is a concern that it could try to use the cease-fire to become stronger.
"Hamas believes it can outsmart and outfox the PA, Israel and us," Kurtzer said.
One of the reasons compelling Hamas to join the Palestinian cease-fire was a cut in the funding it received from Saudi Arabia and Europe, a move that came about due to pressure from the United States, Kurtzer said. He added that the U.S. was still fighting European resistance to reduce direct and indirect financial aid to the militant organization.
The U.S. is also maintaining "very strong pressure" on Syria and Iran, which have been implicated in sponsoring terror and create "the most problems when it comes to stirring up trouble in this region," the ambassador said.
Kurtzer repeated U.S. President George W. Bush's assertion that the U.S. is not interested in an internal Palestinian cease-fire except as a means to dismantle terror groups, and that the U.S. will not accept a potential breakdown of
the hudna as an excuse for failing to do so.
In addition, the U.S. is pressing for a return of the Egyptian and Jordanian ambassadors to Israel as a signal to other countries in the region that normal Arab-Israeli relations exist, Kurtzer said. The U.S., he added, would like to see a resumption of regional conferences that include Israel and Arab countries on shared issues such as water and the environment.
The most hopeful element of the nascent peace process is the bilateral political track that has developed between key Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Kurtzer said. The
ambassador said that while Abbas and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had informed the U.S. of their meeting last week, "they did it themselves."
"We didn't hold their hands, we didn't give them statements, we didn't give them incentives," Kurtzer said.
He also pointed to the follow-up meetings that took place Sunday between Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Minister for Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan, and Monday
between Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr, as a signal that direct political negotiations are moving forward.
"It is a very interesting development that we certainly did stimulate," Kurtzer said. "But the fact that they've taken this and run on their own is, I think, one of the best hopes
this process has."
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