This week at the United Nations, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made it clear that the United States stands opposed to aid that would help the Hamas-led Palestinian government, and she urged the world to follow suit. As Rice has made clear, the United States believes that Hamas is unfit to govern so long as its leaders cheer suicide bombers in Tel Aviv.

At the same time, the United States announced a $10 million package of medical relief to the Palestinians to forestall a humanitarian crisis. Rice told journalists Monday: “To the degree that the Palestinians are suffering humanitarian or essential services deprivation, then I think we have to find a way to deal with that, and it’s the best thing to do.”

The administration’s position is not contradictory, but flexible, straddling a line between a Hamas leadership soaked in Israeli blood and a Palestinian population soaked in misery. This sort of flexibility is essential to the United States’ role in helping Israel achieve peace, and it is a role that will be curtailed if the House of Representatives votes for HR 4681, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006. The bill would prohibit direct assistance to the PA and set strict limitations on humanitarian aid.

The bill, a weakened version of one introduced in the wake of the Hamas election, allows the president to override the limitations under certain conditions. And yet the bill throws obstacles in the path of the kind of diplomatic and humanitarian flexibility that Rice and the president are seeking in their dealings with the Palestinian Authority. There have been no indications that the White House is weakening in its resolve to isolate Hamas economically and politically. But many pro-Israel leaders in this country, as well as Israeli politicians, recognize the dangers of a complete collapse of Palestinian society.

Supporters of HR 4681 are hoping that, if things get bad enough, the Palestinians will throw off their Hamas leaders. That’s a big risk. Just as likely, the PA might look elsewhere for assistance, a move that would cost America what leverage it has.

Isolating Hamas’ murderous regime is critical. But so, too, is allowing America, and Israel, room to maneuver.

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