The prospect of a Hamas takeover of a Western-funded PA has alarmed Congress. Members of the House subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia, who have been receiving frequent closed-door briefings on the decline of the PA, warned that Hamas could eventually use Western funding and weapons to fight the United States.

And then of course there is the sticking point that if Hamas were to be in control, the US would be unable to deal with them:

Under U.S. law, Washington would be unable to deal with any foreign government controlled by groups deemed by the State Department to be terrorists.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been designated terrorist organizations,and the former intends to run in elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council in January 2006.

"Hamas has already been in government in the Palestinian Authority," [Assistant Secretary of State David ] Welch said. "Under American law, we can't deal with them. I don't see that law changing after January."

If Welch cannot imagine the US dealing with Hamas, maybe he didn't try hard enough. If the US can utilize loopholes to avoid moving the embassy to Jerusalem or closing the PLO office, a little question of US law is not going to stop it.

According to Arutz Sheva, the US will use a sophisticated diplomatic technique for getting around the problem: giv'em the Silent Treatment:

The United States and the European Union both consider Hamas a terrorist group, yet both are apparently willing to continue working with the Palestinian Authority government even if it includes Hamas terrorists.

...The U.S. is likely to continue to have diplomatic relations with such a overnment, minus direct contacts with Hamas ministers. "As a matter of policy, we don't deal with Hamas," Stewart Tuttle, the U.S. Embassy spokesman in Tel Aviv, said. "If Hamas members win seats... we are not going to deal with those individuals."

Oh, yes--the US has no end of clever diplomatic negotiating tactics. That'll show them.

Of course, any analysis of the situation would not be complete if Israel cannot be blamed:

Some blame Israel for the fact that the international community now faces this dilemma. Robert Satloff, Executive Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told the Herzliya Conference yesterday that Israel's contradictory policy on Hamas was "partly responsible for its already having gained political legitimacy through the election process," The Jerusalem Post reported.

Satloff said that Israel should have stood firm against Hamas participation in the upcoming elections. He noted that the PLO was long unrecognized by the Israel and the US because it did not renounce terrorism or recognize Israel's right to exist - while today, no one requires either of these from Hamas.

Standing firm against US pressure: you're intrangient if you do and a wimp if you don't. Can someone please mention that to Binyamin "Concessions Will be Necessary in Future Agreement" Netanyahu?

Crossposted at Daled Amos

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hamas.