(UPI/Washington Times) Joshua Brilliant - At the moment all the players want a cease-fire, said Boaz Ganor, deputy dean of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. Abu Mazen and Israel want it so that he can strengthen his position and organize his forces. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad want it to recover from the blows they have sustained in the fighting with Israel. Egypt and Jordan want the situation to stabilize, and Syria is concerned with U.S. pressure, he said. But Hamas will not disarm and eventually there will be a showdown, he predicted. A senior source in the IDF Southern Command told Army Radio, "If, in the past, I gave Abu Mazen a 10% chance of success, now I give him 25%."
2005-01-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive