[Ha'aretz ] Aluf Benn - The tahadiyeh (cease-fire), much more than the Annapolis process, is generating deep-seated change in Palestinian-Israeli relations. Three years after the disengagement, 15 years after Oslo, Israel faces an independent Palestinian entity with full security and civilian responsibilities for a contiguous area in which there are no Israeli soldiers or settlers. Finally there is a Palestinian leadership that demonstrates discipline and enforcement abilities. For better or worse, "Hamastan" is the pilot program of the Palestinian state. The organization controlling it is hostile and hateful and refuses to recognize Israel, and has carried out the worst acts of terror. But under military pressure and the siege at the crossings, its leaders have been persuaded to give a chance to quiet if nervous coexistence. Ya'akov Amidror defined "sufficient victory" over terror as follows: "There are no expectations that 'terror organizations' will concede their defeat, sign surrender accords and agree to the holding of ceremonies that will give public expression to their defeat. A victory of this type leads to a drastic decline in the scope of the actions of the 'terror organizations' to the minimum possible." And what has the cease-fire in the South achieved if not such a "drastic decline" in terror? Israel can justifiably claim that it won in the conflict with Hamas, with few losses and without "the major ground action."
2008-07-28 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive