(Ha'aretz) - Senior military intelligence officers, and other high-ranking officials who read the material upon which intelligence assessments are based, dismiss the claims appearing in the Israeli press this week about a cease-fire that was almost brokered between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The whole cease-fire business is nonsense, they said this week at general staff headquarters. Nabil Sha'ath was putting out feelers to see if Hamas and the Tanzim would put their signature on it. He was trying to sell a car he didn't own to a customer who wouldn't buy. Arafat, who has no interest in halting terror, did not empower Sha'ath to negotiate with these organizations, and they responded with a resounding "no" and a call for the escalation of violence in the territories. Hamas was opposed to a cease-fire, especially Shehada, but not only him.
2002-07-26 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive