MAHMOUD ABBAS'S and Ariel Sharon's ministerial jets passed in the Washington night recently as each man presented arguments and complaints to President George W. Bush. But, so far as is known, not a word was uttered about the 600-pound gorilla in the checkered keffiyeh, Yasser Arafat, whom Bush did not invite to stop by.

Money is a big reason Arafat, though sidelined, cannot be forgotten. He controls the Palestinian purse strings, vast sums that pour into Gaza from around the world. Thus he can order up terrorism at the drop of a hat and frequently does. He has been supplying funds and political support to the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade--which last week claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings in Rosh Ha'ayin--among other Palestinian terrorist groups trying to kill Israeli citizens, disrupt the current cease-fire, and derail the Mideast peace plan. Yet, President Bush has announced plans to give $20 million to the Palestinian Authority as an incentive towards its stability. He said the money will go to boost "the daily lives of ordinary Palestinians."

This is not likely. The PA is deeply and thoroughly corrupt, and it is encouraged and supported in its corruption by Yasser Arafat's leadership. Tens of millions of dollars of its monthly income have been wasted through gross inefficiency and nepotism or misspent on expensive perks for favored bureaucrats. Financial controls and safeguards have not existed or are puny. Although a great deal of money is clearly coming in to the PA, there is no public disclosure of

Yet hope springs eternal. White House officials have been crossing their fingers for the PA's finance minister, appointed last year, Salam Fayyad, a former official with the World Bank, who is widely considered to be honest and forthright. Fayyad admits to the existing corruption in the PA and has attempted some "cleaning."

But it's hard to see how Fayyad might curb the widespread corruption or neutralize Arafat's enormous financial leverage. According to Aharon Ze'evi, Israel's chief of military intelligence, as of last year, Arafat had a net worth of $1.3 billion around the time Fayyad took over the finance ministry. Now, if that sum seems incredible, consider that the European Union alone has sent Arafat and the PA an average of $150 million every year for the past decade. Also, the Arab League has donated $1 billion since 2000. Another $1.3 billion came last year from private donations. And in the past two years, the United States has given $375 million to the Palestinians through the United Nations.

Nor has this flow of international money pouring into Arafat's accounts ever been cut off by something so inconvenient as terrorist violence and murder. On June 19, following a series of suicide bombings in Israel by Arafat's Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, the E.U. parliament proceeded to give the PA $17.7 million. Although the parliament demanded "full transparency," E.U. leader Chris Patten conceded to the Associated Press that it wasn't very likely. Given the corruption and other problems in the PA, Patten said the demand for transparency was "an impossible question to ask in the real world." The E.U. earlier admitted it had sent $10 million directly to Arafat's personal bank account.