Supporters of the Palestinians will point out that Israel continued to build settlements, continued to build in Jerusalem, did not remove illegal outposts, did not remove checkpoints, raided West Bank towns as well as Gaza and didn't release enough prisoners. They will point to the "truce" which Haaretz and other newspapers claim is now in force, as evidence of the good will and pacific intentions of the Hamas.

Supporters of Israel will point out that the rain of Qassam rockets (or Grad-Katyusha rockets) never stopped, truce or no truce, and the quota of foiled terror attempts did not decline. They will note that the official organs of moderate Palestinian authority of the moderate Mahmoud Abbas issued statements approving of the murder of Yeshiva students in Jerusalem, and lionizing the terrorist as a "martyr." They will point out that the Palestinian authority did not really put an end to terrorist groups within the West Bank, and didn't really take serious steps in that direction. They will note the incessant inflammatory rhetoric of the moderate Mahmoud Abbas, such as his charges about the "ethnic cleansing" of Jerusalem. They can note the deliberately provocative plan of the PLO to bring hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in a mass "return" to Israel for "Nakba" day. Perhaps by then there will be a Fatah-Hamas unity government, a product of the unceasing attempts to bring the Hamas back into the fold, and a sure and certain way to stop the peace process.

Already, there are those who are explaining that the stalemate works in favor of Hamas, and that the sad sequel is inevitable. Indeed, the stalemate works in favor of Hamas. Weren't the rockets fired precisely for the purpose of stopping the peace process and sabotaging the moderate government of Mahmoud Abbas? Does anyone think the Hamas is incompetent? They are many things, but not incompetent.

And who should be most concerned about the possible fall of Abbas? Does only Israel have something to lose if the Abbas government falls? Does Abbas really want to lose power? Isn't the PA shooting itself in the foot when it lauds terrorists and refuses to crack down on groups like Fatah Al-Aqsa except by gestures on paper? How does it help the cause of moderation when Abbas invents stories about "ethnic cleansing" in Jerusalem? If Israel really withdraws from West Bank cities and lifts the checkpoints and roadblocks, how long will the Abbas government last?

And where, in all this, are the Americans? If the Americans really want Israel to actually dismantle the illegal outposts and stop settlement activity, does anyone believe they could not do it? If they threatened a public ultimatum, wouldn't the Olmert government, coalition or no coalition, have to comply? If the Americans put enough pressure on Salem Fayyed and Mahmoud Abbas and the moderate Palestinians, couldn't they get the moderate terrorist incitement off their moderate media outlets, paid for by American and EU funds, and scuttle their moderate plans for a moderate return of the refugees to moderately wipe out the Jewish State? Couldn't they really put the moderate Al-Aqsa terrorists out of business? Why are the Americans so strangely aloof, contenting themselves with toothless diplomatic scoldings?

Each night we go to sleep with nice promises of peace and reconciliation and compromise and more photo-ops of leaders shaking hands. Each night we wake up to the sound of incitement, suicide bombings, gunfire, rockets and bulldozers. The Israelis and the Palestinians are collectively like a patient who is suffering from the recurrent nightmare of the "peace process."

Ami Isseroff