January
19, 2005
Peace Requires Action on Iran and Syria Too
By
Senator Jon Kyl
Last week's Palestinian elections, which
I had the privilege to observe, were universally regarded
as a great success. But they are only the first step in
establishing real democracy for Palestinians. The question
now is whether the victorious Mahmoud Abbas will use his
mandate to turn the Palestinian Authority into a governing
body that genuinely represents its people, and strive to
lay the groundwork for negotiations with Israel that could
lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Some have called on President Bush to "seize
the moment," and quickly broker some kind of a deal.
But a better approach is to give Abbas time to demonstrate
himself whether he will do what is necessary to achieve
lasting peace. The United States should instead focus its
efforts on areas that the Israelis and Palestinians simply
cannot, namely the external factors that could influence
whether Palestinian.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders I spoke
with agreed that Iran and Syria would continue to use terrorists
in the disputed territories and along the Lebanon-Israel
border to engage in a proxy war against the Jewish State.
While Abbas can do much to stop terror in the territories,
the U.S. can help with Iran and Syria.
Since its revolution in 1979, Iran has
never ceased its calls for the destruction of Israel. Now,
it has become the primary ideological, financial and logistical
supporter to the terrorists attempting to translate ideology
into practice. According to Israeli sources, Iran now spends,
on average, $40,000 per terrorist. This money is sent from
Iran to Damascus, Syria - the home of the operational headquarters
for almost all Palestinian terror groups. From there the
money flows to a special unit in Beirut, Lebanon - a country
virtually occupied by Syria - charged with operating Palestinian
terrorists.
Using banks and even Western Union, the
money makes its way to the local terror groups in the West
Bank and in Gaza. Eventually money and training from Iran
are used to launch a suicide bomber, set off a truck or
car bomb, or plant an improvised explosive device (IED)
designed to kill civilians and soldiers alike, and sabotage
efforts at peace.
However, an even more lethal threat is
growing along Israel's northern border. Estimates put the
current number of rockets and short-range ballistic missiles
deployed by the terrorist group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
at 11,000-13,000. These rockets are flown from Iran to Syria,
and then make their way to the Israeli border by truck.
Israeli towns have long suffered under attack from short-range
rockets. The threat has eased somewhat since October 2003
when Israel retaliated for one attack by destroying a terrorist
camp north of Damascus, but the proliferation of the rockets
and missiles has continued.
While large-scale terrorist attacks in
Israel may be less frequent - thanks in part to Israel's
security barrier - 15-20 terrorists are arrested daily.
If Iran and Syria believe that the Palestinians may finally
be ready to make peace by dismantling the terrorists groups,
jeopardizing their proxy war, we can expect increased attacks
both inside Israel and from Lebanon attempting to destabilize
the Palestinian leadership and force the Israelis into a
potentially broader war.
The Palestinian Authority must take the
lead in stopping terrorism from its people and territory.
But the United States and the rest of the international
community can help by holding Iran and Syria accountable
for their continued low-intensity warfare in Israel. For
too long the world has demanded action only from Israel
and the PA.
Senator Kyl serves on
the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees and chairs the
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security
as well as the Senate Republican Policy Committee. He recently
led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Israel and
Turkey.
Send
This Page to a Friend
©
2000-2004 RealClearPolitics.com All Rights
Reserved
