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Sharon tells Abbas to do his job or Israel will

Uri Dan:

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday delivered what aides described as a "very blunt" message to the Palestinians.

The gist of it: Now is the time — finally — for the Palestinian Authority to rein in the terror organizations. And if they don't, Sharon will.

The Israeli leader didn't spell out exactly what he meant.

But as the countdown to Israel's late-summer withdrawal from the Gaza Strip nears, the seriousness of his words were clear:

If the current spike in terrorism continues, one can easily foresee a vast Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip in coming weeks.

The rest of the world thinks the recent absence of ghastly bombings means terror attacks are over. They aren't.

Israelis were shocked, for example, by the slaying of two men in the last two days, one in the West Bank, the other in the Gaza Strip.

And earlier this week, a teenage homicide bomber — a woman — was nabbed on her way to blow herself up at an Israeli hospital.

Normally, that would be a reason for Sharon to postpone a summit like the one with Mahmoud Abbas yesterday in Jerusalem.

Instead, Sharon went ahead with the meeting and reminded the Palestinian president of the obligations under President Bush's "road map" plan to crack down on terrorism — commitments that were confirmed at the last summit, in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, in February. Abbas, once again, told Sharon yesterday he doesn't have the men or weapons to fight Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Sharon's emissaries sent back the message: "You already have a gigantic arsenal in the Gaza Strip. You can arm as many policemen as you want."

But Abbas says he's still too powerless to take on Hamas.

Abbas' best hope is to take up Sharon's offer. If he does not Hamas and the other jihad organizations are going to crush him anyway and precipitate more violence with Israel. If he enlisted Sharon's help in a crackdown he might have a chance to defeat them and end up with the Palestinian state he says he wants. If he does not he will have nothing but rubble to rule.