The gathering storm..

An important editorial in the Jerusalem Post.

As attention is increasingly focused on the drama of disengagement, the unraveling of the Palestinian Authority is quietly proceeding apace. A quick survey of events of the last week or two is at once shocking and depressing:

Security chief Muhammad Dahlan is openly warning of a "third intifada."

PA Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Kidwa, in defiance of the road map and Mahmoud Abbas's promises to confiscate weaponry, has declared the right of all Palestinian groups to maintain their arms "until the end of the occupation."

Hamas is expressing its willingness to join a "unity government" with Fatah after upcoming elections, delayed by Abbas because of Hamas's electoral strength.

The leader of Islamic Jihad has declared "the calm is over," and joint statements by the terrorist groups say they will soon resume their attacks.

The PA has responded by imploring the assorted militias to maintain calm so as not to interfere with disengagement, begging the question of what will happen after the Israeli withdrawal.

Former GSS chief Avi Dichter, considered the optimist compared to former OC-General Staff Moshe Ya'alon, says the PA has not been lifting a finger against terrorism and opposes the handover of further cities to Palestinian security control.

In attempt to curb anarchy, the PA will not collect weapons, but has resumed executions of alleged "collaborators" and murderers, after cursory military tribunals with no right of appeal. Meanwhile, Fatah has just admitted that some previous victims of "collaborator" executions were innocent.

Two suicide bombings have recently been foiled by Israeli security forces, and warnings and attempted attacks are on the rise.

Smuggling of weaponry from Egypt to both the West Bank and Gaza is rampant, with every indication being that the terrorist groups are using a period they have defined as less than a cease-fire as an opportunity to rearm and regroup for the next round.

The temptation to see all these events through the prism of disengagement should be resisted. Some see this gathering storm as an argument to cancel or postpone that operation, others for proceeding as planned with greater determination. But there is a separate, more important, question from whether disengagement will make it easier or harder to deal with an unraveling Palestinian "partner."

There is the obligation of both Israel and the international community to reexamine the decision to place all its eggs in the basket of Mahmoud Abbas and its notion of what it means to support Palestinian moderation and reform.