(Washington Post) Scott Wilson - Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said Israel would now have to maintain control of the Jordan Valley in any final peace agreement to ensure that Hamas does not allow other groups Israel considers terrorist organizations to arrive from Jordan or Iraq. "Hamas cannot be seen as just another Palestinian political party with an Islamic orientation," Gold said. "It must be linked to the larger sources of terror that threaten Israel and the West." "We are assigning much too much significance to these elections," said Dan Schueftan, deputy director of the National Security Studies Center at the University of Haifa. He said Israel already faced a fading partner in Abbas, whose leadership has been undermined by party militias, internal corruption, and the popularity of Hamas. "The choices were between terrorists, impotents, and hooligans," said Schueftan.
2006-01-27 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive