U.S. Could Halt Aid to Palestinians

Fri Jan 27, 10:44 AM ET

WASHINGTON - The way ahead appears bumpy and uncertain, but the Bush administration will resume its search for a formula to bring peace to the Middle East following the jolting triumph of Hamas in Palestinian parliamentary elections.

One potential step is already clear - both President Bush and members of Congress may consider halting the millions of dollars in aid the U.S. has been sending the Palestinians annually in recent years.

The toughest task facing the United States is determining whether the peace process can proceed, and if so, how. The Bush administration, which has a policy of not dealing with terrorist organizations, would have to find a way to negotiate with the Palestinians without talking directly to Hamas.

The militant Islamic group is sworn to destroy Israel and has conducted numerous terrorist operations against that country.

Urging Hamas to renounce terrorism, which the late Yasser Arafat did under U.S. urging in 1988, Bush said, "If your platform is the destruction of Israel it means you are not a partner in peace. And we're interested in peace."

At a White House news conference Thursday, Bush said a party that seeks Israel's destruction "is a party with which we will not deal." But he also said, "Peace is never dead because people want peace."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has begun preliminary consultations with her U.N., Russian and European counterparts to discuss their next steps. She will hold talks with them Monday in London.

Members of the so-called Quartet - the U.S., the European Union, the United Nations and Russia - issued a statement saying there is "a fundamental contradiction between armed group and militia activities and the building of a democratic state."

They said the creation of a Palestinian state would require "all participants in the democratic process to renounce violence and terror, accept Israel's right to exist, and disarm."

Rice also talked with Mahmoud Abbas, the U.S.-backed successor to Arafat as Palestinian president, and the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni.

Bush left open the possibility of halting aid to the Palestinians if their government winds up dominated by Hamas, a militant Islamic group listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization. This year, the Palestinians are receiving $150 million for development programs on the West Bank and in Gaza.

The threat was echoed on Capitol Hill by a nonbinding Senate resolution condemning Hamas and expressing support for halting assistance to the Palestinian government.

The symbolic resolution, crafted by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., says aid should be ended if the party controlling the Palestinian parliament advocates the destruction of Israel, which Hamas does. It was unclear when the Senate would vote on the proposal.

Congress' reluctance to continue U.S. financial support was also illustrated by lawmakers' comments, including remarks by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

"Hamas has shown that it prefers terrorism against innocent civilians to pursue its political aims, and the United States should play no role in assisting a majority terrorist parliament," Hastert said in a statement.

In a similar warning, Rep. Eric Cantor (news, bio, voting record), R-Va., a member of the GOP House leadership, said, "If Hamas does not join the peaceful nations of the world at the table of cooperation and peace, the consequences will be the loss of America's support and funding for the Palestinians."

Other members of Congress were also critical of Hamas' victory over the more mainstream Fatah Party.

"The Palestinians do not believe there should be an Israel and all too many of them believe that terrorism is the way to achieve that goal," said Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., called Hamas' victory "a de facto declaration of war by the Palestinian people against the state of Israel." And Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said the election "casts a serious shadow over the prospects for peace."

Bush called on Abbas to remain in office.

Abbas said he was committed to reaching peace with Israel and suggested talks would be conducted through the Palestine Liberation Organization, a possible way around a Hamas-led government.

Meanwhile, a senior Lebanese official said Friday that the militant Palestinian group Hamas "needs to move forward on how to make peace with Israel."

But Saad Hariri, who heads the majority bloc in Lebanon's parliament, said before seeing Bush at the White House that the Palestinians were victims of oppression and it was a decision for Hamas to make. "It will take time," he told reporters.

Hariri said Hamas might follow the example of Fatah, the more mainstream Palestinian group that it defeated in parliamentary elections, and come around to accepting Israel - a step Bush says is necessary for the United States to deal with Hamas.

But, Hariri said, "I don't know what the Palestinian people want."

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