The question of the day, really the question of the decade, is how hard Abu Mazen is prepared to be on his terrorist confreres. While the early returns aren't encouraging, we shouldn't give up just yet. To those who would say that this is asking too much, I'd remind them that the future stability of the Palestinian State, whatever that may be, relies on energetic action in this area, far more than the security of Israel does.

I'd also remind them of the Altalena incident in 1948. The Haganah, soon to become the IDF, fired on a ship carrying arms for the Irgun, a rival militia headed by Menachem Begin. Soon after, the Irgun was absorbed into the IDF, and Begin gave a speech stating that there was room for only one military in Israel. The officer who carried out the order to fire was a young Yitchak Rabin.