[ Ha'aretz] Amos Harel - Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin believes the cease-fire agreement in Gaza serves the interests of Hamas, not Israel. "The cease-fire gave Hamas a lifeline. We are not attacking them. We eased the blockade on them at a time when they are not committed to stopping their rearmament," Diskin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday. He said the temporary lull "is essentially an illusion. In our assessment the rocket attacks will resume at some point in the future." Diskin noted that "Israel's situation is very problematic in its struggle against radical Islam. Palestinian daring against Israel has increased since Hamas took over [in Gaza] while Israel's deterrence has suffered a very substantive blow." He argued that Israel's deterrent has "suffered substantially" in the past three years, with the disengagement from Gaza, the Hamas takeover there, and the Second Lebanon War.
2008-07-24 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive