A Palestinian boy carries a destroyed television set while sifting through the remains of six homes demolished by the Israeli army near the Rafah border crossing. (Hatem Omar, Maan Images)

One of the endlessly fascinating and frustrating aspects of the convergence of American politics with Middle Eastern realities is evident again this season: the application of special rules of conduct to Israel that are not applied to the United States itself. One of the most common themes heard in discussions of US policy in the Middle East these days is that Washington should be speaking to the key players in the region - like Syria, Iran, Hamas and Hizbullah - instead of boycotting them.

Even former Secretary of State James Baker has said something to this effect, which is significant because he heads a team looking into policy options on Iraq for the Bush administration. Yet when it comes to Israel speaking with Hamas in Palestine, the same rational suggestions are not heard. Israel remains a state that enjoys unique standards of behavior in the world, both in terms of what it should and should not do.

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It is not held accountable for its vicious policies in Palestine and Lebanon, where its war-crimes-like behavior is often noted, but never prosecuted. Impunity continues to define its relationship to global norms of morality and law. In the same manner, it is generally not urged to engage with Hamas and the wider Palestinian political system as a means of resolving its conflict with them. Rather, Israel is told - and the Quartet's support for its policy of boycotting Hamas is ample proof of this - that it can unilaterally set requirements and rules of the game that Palestinians and everyone else in the world must adhere to.

This is a shame, because the policies Israel has pursued in this respect are not working very well. Israel's physical security as a state may be intact, but its acceptance in the region is as precarious as it always has been. In fact its prospects of being accepted as a good neighbor in the Arab region may be deteriorating, in view of its continued savagery in Palestine and Lebanon and its role in threatening Iran. Most of the Arab world cheered Hizbullah as it rained thousands of rockets on northern Israel last July and August.

While Israel refuses to talk to Hamas, other countries act differently. The US and the UK engage the Irish Republican Army via Sinn Fein; the US and Europe talk to Iran directly or indirectly; the US looks for contact points with the insurgents in Iraq; and the US itself also once negotiated with the Viet Cong when the two were at war in the early 1970s. Israel similarly should find a face-saving way to engage with Hamas now, before the Palestinian situation completely collapses and no diplomatic partner is available for negotiations.

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