[IMRA: #1 retreat supporter Marcus details how the disengagement house of
cards is collapsing before the retreat is even implemented.]

Leader Remodeling Inc.
By Yoel Marcus Haaretz 26 July 2005
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/604617.html

Condoleezza Rice's visit to Sycamore Ranch, with its sheep, cows and rolling
green pastures, could have come straight out of a kitschy American sitcom
set on a farm down South. The family sits around a dinner table piled high
with wholesome food and showers one another with love. Only in this case,
the honored guest ate little and talked a lot, and what she had to say was
enough to put everyone off dessert, even though finishing with halvah has
become a tradition.

In public, Condi was all smiles. But in private, she showed herself to be
one tough cookie, full of demands on Israel. "She ticked us all off," said
an insider. "The chutzpah of that woman. The way she totally ignored
Sharon's critical problems at home. The way she twisted our arm and said we
had to make all kinds of concessions and gestures to strengthen Abu Mazen."

This time, Rice's demands did not go through the Weissglas filtering system.
There was no sugar to sweeten the pill or make it easier to swallow. There
was no beating around the bush. Israel, she said, must supply the
Palestinian Authority with weapons and ammunition. It must speed up the
lines at checkpoints. It must be nice to Abu Mazen's buddies and allow them
to operate. As if the missiles and the Qassam rockets fired at Israeli towns
every day were our doing. As if the chairman of the PA deserves some kind of
compensation.

One participant said Rice spoke like a teacher scolding her students. She
demanded that Israel exercise restraint in responding to terror and let Abu
Mazen fight Hamas, lest all of Gaza fall into its clutches. As if Israel
were standing in his way. When she visited the Palestinians, she praised Abu
Mazen's leadership abilities and his "war on terror." In Israel, she went on
about how weak and frail he is, and urged us to strengthen him. As if Israel
were Leader Remodeling Inc.

Once upon a time, if you recall, Abu Mazen was a prime minister. Arafat
neutered him and forced him to quit. Now, Abu Mazen is the boss. His 100
days of grace were over long ago, and there's still no sign of him getting a
handle on things.

Sometimes, it's true, there is strength in weakness. Once, Israel had a weak
prime minister by the name of Levi Eshkol. He was so weak, he did the
unbelievable: He kicked Ben-Gurion, the founder of the state, out of the
party. He was so weak, he led the country into the Six-Day War, which ended
in Israel's greatest victory ever.

The strength of a weak leader lies in the fact that those who want him where
he is will find ways to shore him up. On the other hand, they forgive him
when he doesn't meet expectations.

In Abu Mazen's case, the Bush administration wants to strengthen him because
of his commitment to democratize the PA, whereas all we see is a man
incapable of carrying out his most elementary obligation - cracking down and
disarming the terrorist organizations. With Israel taking its first historic
step to leave the territories, one might expect something different.

Some say that a man like Abu Mazen, who has been a member of the Palestinian
Liberation Organization for decades and is still one of its heads, couldn't
be a weakling who needs crutches to get by. They are sure he can do more
than he pretends he can. We've seen this type before.

Look at Ben-Gurion. He didn't need outside backing to sink the Altalena or
disband the Palmach. Barak didn't need crutches to pull Israeli troops out
of Lebanon overnight. Sharon didn't need outside help to decide on the
evacuation of Gush Katif. These three leaders did what they did in the face
of massive domestic opposition, bordering on civil war.

But since the U.S. administration is doing the asking, Israel must help Abu
Mazen to help himself. If he needs a blood transfusion, we can donate some.
After all, we do want a strong and credible partner. But we can't replace
all his blood for him. If he is really so weak that he can't curb terror,
can't discuss compromise and can't come up with any painful concessions on
his side, then he is not a worthy partner.

Rice can rant and rave until the cows come home, but we have no factory for
remodeling Palestinian leaders. We can barely manage with our own shoddy
goods.