Israel Halts Payments

Israel's cabinet has decided to freeze monthly tax and customs duties to the Palestinian government in reaction to Hamas winning a ruling majority in the Palestinian Parliament. I think this will end up being counterproductive policy in the long run. There will never be peace in the region until the Palestinian government can serve as a fully functioning body for its people.

First of all, this is rightfully the Palestinian's money, it isn't aide funds that are being cut off, and it will be seen by people on the street as theft, plain and simple. That only stands to drive more people who will affected by the cash crunch this will cause to support Hamas.

It's pretty obvious that the United States and Israel are trying to squeeze the Hamas led government into failure, although they repeatedly make bogus claims that this is not true. In today's Washington Post Israeli acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, "However, there is no intention of harming the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian population." That's a fine thing to say, but this policy will end up doing just that.

The real problem this policy will cause is that Hamas isn't going to just lay down and say we're broke, they're going to go look for the money somewhere else, and they'll most likely get it from someone with little interest in the road map for peace.

I think Israel is forgetting that you keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.