MOSCOW, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- At an international conference of donor countries in Paris $7.4 billion was pledged -- more than the initially requested $5.6 billion -- to help the Palestinian government.
Out of this sum, France will contribute 200 million euros, the United States about $550 million, and Russia $10 million. The future Palestinian state has enough money for the next three years. It only needs to be set up. Today, contradictions within Palestine rather than with Israel are the main obstacle on this road, and the donor aid may make a bad situation worse.
The payments will be made within the next three years -- this is the period in which Palestine will implement a program of economic reforms, voiced in Paris by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
The Paris conference will go down in the history of Palestinian-Israeli settlement not only because of the promised finances. For the first time in two and a half years, it was held at the ministerial level and with broad international participation. Paris played host to about 90 delegations, including Israelis -- also for the first time since the start of the intifada in 2000. Before, the Israelis usually turned down all invitations to discuss economic aid to Palestine as irrelevant. This made the discussion pointless because neither the transfer of money, nor humanitarian relief, nor economic projects were possible without Israel's consent and assistance.
The arrival of the Israelis in Paris does not mean dramatic changes in their position. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that Palestinian prosperity, economic advancement and Israeli security were interdependent factors. In other words, after receiving security guarantees, the Israelis will let the Palestinians further develop. Nevertheless, the very arrival of the Israeli delegation demonstrates the readiness for dialogue and is already a step forward.
This striving for compromise was produced by the November international meeting in Annapolis, Md., which restarted the process of Palestinian-Israeli settlement after a seven-year break. Participants in that meeting also decided to spare no effort in the formation of a Palestinian state by the end of 2008. The Paris decisions will provide the financial backing for these plans.
However, there is one "but" -- the position of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas. Having seized power in the Gaza Strip last June, Hamas severed relations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The isolated Gaza Strip is on the brink of humanitarian disaster.
The plans of economic reforms provide for the funding of the Gaza Strip as well, but this is impossible without consent in Palestine. The promised sums are not likely to promote reconciliation. The Abbas administration is going to keep the money and power in its hands. Moreover, the West is refusing to talk to Hamas and will not allow any money to land in the hands of terrorists. After the Hamas victory in the January 2006 parliamentary elections, the United States and Europe froze aid to the Palestinians. They were ready to deal only with Abbas. This worsened discord in Palestine, resulting in a final split and the isolation of the Gaza Strip.
Now the situation repeats itself on a larger scale. Hamas leaders have called the Paris conference an attempt to stifle Palestinian resistance. "Financial assistance in exchange for Israeli security means suppression of Palestinian resistance and an attempt to impose a Euro-American program of controlling the Palestinian government," Islamists claim.
But they are unhappy about something else. Donor aid only gives weight to their political foes and prevents them from dictating the terms in the process of internal Palestinian settlement. This process may not even take place because Abbas can demand too much from the Islamists. He knows full well that this aid has been granted on certain terms, including dialogue with Israel and guarantees of its security. Hamas will never make such concessions.
Speaking in Paris, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov paid special attention to the situation in the Gaza Strip. He believes that aid to the Palestinians should be free of discrimination and apply to the entire Palestinian territory. However, nobody knows how to do this with Palestine being torn asunder by discord.
Likewise, nobody knows how to establish a state in Palestine without the Gaza Strip. Maybe, the world community hopes that the situation will right itself while the peace talks are going on.
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(Maria Appakova is a political commentator for RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)
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(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)
