Shaky, Hopeful Mideast Step

Israel’s agreement Sunday to withdraw troops from the West Bank city of Bethlehem and parts of the Gaza Strip in exchange for a Palestinian crackdown on militants has produced a limited, shaky cease-fire. It could, however, open the way to a broader halt in the two years of violence that has killed nearly 600 Israelis in mostly suicide bombings and 1,500 Palestinians in targeted assassinations and army assaults.

The most obvious stumbling block is the refusal of radical Palestinian groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad to stop their terror attacks no matter what the Palestinian Authority agrees to. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s security forces must make serious, visible efforts to stop terrorists from killing Israelis. Israel must fulfill its promise to end the hardships imposed by nearly around-the-clock curfews that have devastated the Palestinians’ economy and their quality of life.

The agreement between Israel’s defense minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and the Palestinian Authority’s interior minister, Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, was the first notable accord between the two sides in months and the first negotiated without mediation by the United States or other referees.

The first Israeli pullbacks Monday coincided with reports that Abu Nidal, a breakaway Palestinian terrorist whose Revolutionary Council of Fatah has killed hundreds of people, was found dead of gunshot wounds in Iraq. Abu Nidal’s victims included both Israelis and aides to Arafat, a reminder that Palestinians do not constitute a monolithic group. Last week, for instance, an Arafat aide criticized Hamas for blocking a unified Palestinian front against suicide attacks and for rejecting coexistence with Israel.

If Palestinian security forces can reduce the violence, Israeli troops are expected to withdraw from other occupied West Bank territories. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Gulf states allied with the Palestinians should help train security forces to collect intelligence and arrest terrorists before they attack.

The Bush administration, which has strongly backed Israel and has also proclaimed its support for an eventual Palestinian state, has a role as well. CIA Director George J. Tenet outlined plans for a cease-fire more than a year ago, but it never took hold. Tenet met with Palestinian officials in Washington this month. He and other U.S. experts can help keep negotiations going, but it’s up to Israel and the Palestinians to do the early work, to provide a first, tenuous thread of trust.