The subcommittee will come to order.

Today, the subcommittee had hoped to examine those realistic and productive measures that the parties, directly and indirectly involved with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict might have taken to restore a sense of hope and maybe even make some material progress towards peace.  But in light of the Mecca Accord which, if implemented, will create a Hamas-Fatah unity government for the Palestinian Authority, I’m not sure what’s left to discuss.

Over the past six years there have been many plans and many envoys.  And contrary to popular opinion, there hasn’t been a deficit of attention, merely a deficit of performance.  Commitments made to the United States, or between the parties, have often been honored in the breach.  The timing was never right.  What was promised was not delivered. 

There was always a provocation, an incident, an upcoming election, a crisis, an attack.  And so it is again today.

Recent weeks held the promise of change.  Maybe not all of it wise, but things were moving.  The United States and Israel seemed ready to work with the Palestinians to provide some kind of “political horizon,” setting aside earlier obligations in the President’s Roadmap.  Why?  To strengthen Abu Mazen.  The President has asked the Congress to agree to reprogram $86 million for Palestinian security services.  Why?  To strengthen Abu Mazen.  Secretary Rice agreed to participate in a tripartite meeting next week. Why?  To strengthen Abu Mazen.

And what has Abu Mazen done to strengthen himself?  He’s capitulated to Hamas.  The Mecca Accord neither strengthens him nor helps the cause of peace. 

I, for one, have been urging a different kind of assistance to Abu Mazen, suggesting both publicly and privately, that significant economic assistance should have been provided to him long ago.  But we are now well beyond that point.  And, due to the courtesy of our friends in Saudi Arabia, we now have what Secretary Rice once said we could not accept:  a Palestinian Authority with “one foot in terror and one foot in democracy.”  How anyone can describe what happened in Mecca over the weekend as “progress” is beyond me.

And if in Abu Mazen we have seen a leader who has chosen to form a government with a multiple personality disorder, in Israel we see a government suffering from depression, schlepping along with no mandate except that provided by inertia.  Things seem so hopeless and fearful in the region that Arab governments are actually threatening to begin cooperating with each other.

I had hoped that this hearing would explore ways to fill the gaps between high-minded principles and facts on the ground.  So many Americans, indeed so many people across the world, are desperate to see some kind of progress, some indication that this conflict between two people fated to share the same land can at least be put back on the path toward peace.

Instead, we’ll have to contend with the implications of the Mecca Accord.  And those implications look severe.  The Mecca Accord seems quite clear on the necessity of Hamas accepting the Quartet’s three non-negotiable conditions for the resumption of assistance to the PA:  it ignores these conditions altogether.

Hamas is not required to recognize the State of Israel.  Hamas does not have to commit to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through exclusively non-violent means.  Instead, Hamas has to respect, but not necessarily obey, the prior obligations and agreements of the Palestinian Authority.  Must Israel renegotiate its right to exist every time the Palestinians change their government?  This is lunacy.

In exchange for this massive reversal, Hamas will allow Abu Mazen to pick a new foreign minister and a new finance minister. The foreign minister will be responsible for explaining this political disaster to the world and the finance minister will have the job of distributing the funds the Mecca Accord will preclude the PA from receiving from members of the Quartet.

It’s a trifecta of diplomatic disaster.  Abu Mazen has gutted his own credibility, empowered his opponents and taken upon himself the responsibility for the inevitable failure of this two-headed monstrosity of a government.

Yogi Berra was right, it’s déjà vu all over again.

Now, I’d like to turn to the Ranking Member of the subcommittee the distinguished gentleman from Indiana, Mr. Pence.