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Over to You, Washington and Jerusalem

“We’re not making any comment for the time being,” an Israeli bureaucrat told me this morning.

At the same time, my colleague Felice Friedson was receiving the same response from a United States official at the Department of State.

It seems rather predictable that this would be the response from two capitals that have proved themselves completely unprepared for a Hamas victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections.

I am sitting at the typewriter, ahead of the announcement of the official results, but given that the Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei’ and his Fatah-dominated cabinet resigned a few minutes ago, I think I am on safe ground when I say Hamas is in an extraordinarily powerful position.

For George W. Bush to give an interview on the eve of the election stressing he would not be negotiating with Hamas unless it changes its tune, was somewhat ill-advised to say the least. His advisers must have surely forewarned him that Hamas would do very well in the vote; that in fact the opinion polls were suggesting the race was too close to call between Fatah and Hamas. Perhaps they suggested it should be his final gesture towards Fatah in a bid to get the party reelected.

In fact, some are now arguing that all it did was to make people even more alienated from Fatah. In political terms, Washington is seen by the people as the enemy. Participants in street rallies in Gaza and the West Bank frequently burn the Stars and Stripes alongside the Star of David.

Analysts here at The Media Line also suggest that Israel’s recent comments about the Palestinian election could well have driven voters away from the traditionally-strong Fatah.

This is all about political shortsightedness. It is a disease suffered by politicians the world over – preferring short-term often personal gain over mid- and long-range national benefits. In the cases of Washington and Jerusalem this is all the more acute. Jerusalem manages to make a mess of most of its international dealings, even though it often has the greater good at heart. All too often a public official leaks something to the media or speaks out publicly scuppering any well-intentioned plans.

Washington, though, is another story. Presidents seem to shoot from their hips with a large dose of carefree abandon. Is it a lack of experience in the ranks of the personal advisers or perhaps the hidden agenda of the permanent mandarins, who hold their posts as presidents come and go?

So, back to the issue at hand. For days Americans and Israelis have been opining about Palestinian politics instead of leaving the job up to the Palestinians themselves. [And while I’m thinking about it, the European Union didn’t exactly help matters by announcing last week it was cutting 50 percent of its aid to the Fatah-ruled Palestinian Authority because of perceived corruption.] While most Palestinians had probably already made up their minds weeks ago as to their voting intentions, the floating voters, the undecided, may have been pushed towards Hamas because of foreign pressure.

And today, a stony silence from Israel and the U.S. They simply are lost for words.

No planning. No forethought. No wisdom.