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Dispatch from Jerusalem - Sunday, June 17

APN's Board of Directors, accompanied by members of the Executive Staff, will be on a fact finding mission to Israel, starting on June 17th. Watch this space for ongoing updates. Read Other Dispatches:Tuesday, June 21 Friday, June 15 By Ori Nir APN Spokesman Jerusalem, June 17 -- It took less than 24 hours for Israel's political and military leadership to conclude that Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip is not the end of the road for political engagement ...

APN's Board of Directors, accompanied by members of the Executive Staff, will be on a fact finding mission to Israel, starting on June 17th. Watch this space for ongoing updates.


Read Other Dispatches:
Tuesday, June 21

Friday, June 15


By Ori Nir
APN Spokesman

Jerusalem, June 17 -- It took less than 24 hours for Israel's political and military leadership to conclude that Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip is not the end of the road for political engagement with the Palestinians. Over the weekend and on Sunday, Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, frequently used the word "opportunity." Olmert, on his way to Washington for meetings with President Bush and his top foreign policy advisors, spoke about an opportunity for restarting a political process with the Palestinians. Others spoke about an opportunity to turn the West Bank into the antithesis of what is now widely referred to as the new "Hamastan" in Gaza. Yet others spoke about an opportunity for Israel to wholly disengage from Gaza, politically economically and logistically.

Two days after Hamas completed its swift coup in Gaza, the contours of an Israeli comprehension of the consequences of this development are beginning to emerge. Conversations with American diplomats in Israel indicate that, overall, policy makers Jerusalem and Washington see eye-to-eye on what these consequences are.

Olmert's cabinet has not yet discussed the issue, but media interviews with several members of the cabinet portray a policy that seems to focus on further isolating Hamas in Gaza, politically and physically, while engaging with President Mahmoud Abbas and his new pragmatic government of technocrats in the West Bank.

The extent to which this policy should be pursued is in fierce debate among Israelis, but there is a near-consensus regarding several key points.

First, there is an agreement that Israel should not attack Gaza militarily, at least not in the short run. Re-occupying the Gaza Strip to defeat Hamas militarily is not a viable option, say Israeli strategists, doves and hawks. At least not as long as Hamas avoids attacking Israel. Israelis and Americans who follow Palestinian politics expect Hamas to hold its rocket fire and try to stabilize the security situation in Gaza. "They will try to appear as responsible and rational players to entice the international community, as well as Israel, to engage with them," predicted an American diplomat in Jerusalem in a private conversation.

The chairman of Hamas' political bureau in Damascus, Khaled Mashal and the organization's political leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyah, the now-deposed prime minister, did in fact send conciliatory messages over the weekend. They said that Hamas has no intention to turn Gaza into an independent Islamic state and that it still recognizes Abbas as the legitimate president of the Palestinian Authority. But Hamas activists in Gaza celebrated their victory by destroying large photos of Abbas and Yasser Arafat at the looted and vandalized presidential compound and by boasting "the end of heresy and secularism."

Another key component of the government's attitude toward the new reality in Gaza is that while an immediate military action is imprudent, political isolation of the new Hamas-ruled entity is advisable. Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter, speaking on Channel 2 Saturday night, spoke about the need to "dry-up Hamas' supply routes." Engagement with Hamas - if at all - would be limited to logistical efforts to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, he said.

Many in Israel are talking about developments in Gaza as an opportunity for Israel to complete its disengagement from the Strip. General (reserve) Giora Eiland, who as the director of Israel's National Security Council was one of the architects of Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan two years ago, told Israel Radio Sunday that Israel has a chance now to "roll over the responsibility for Gaza toward Egypt" and the international community. Meretz Knesset Member Zehava Galon, however, said that it would be wrong - legally, morally and politically - to cut off all relations with the Gaza Strip.

Ironically yet quite naturally, the developments in Gaza shifted Israel's attention to the West Bank. Politicians and pundits seem to agree on the necessity to stabilize the West Bank. Politicians on the right advocate doing so by beefing up Israeli military presence across the West Bank. The IDF already did that last week and is on a high state of alert this week.

But Olmert, supported by his Labor Party allies with the encouragement of the Bush administration emphasized political action as a way of enhancing stability there. Speaking to reporters on his way to Washington, Olmert said he intends to fully explore the opportunity for a political breakthrough with Abbas and his new pragmatic government. Olmert will reportedly tell President Bush that he will immediately release at least some of the Palestinian tax-revenue funds that Israel has been withholding since Hamas took power last year. He will also reportedly promise to intensify his dialogue with Abbas and open talks with members of his cabinet.

While many here are encouraging Olmert and his cabinet members not to miss opportunities for political action, only few have a coherent plan. Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's largest Israeli daily, commissioned short essays from eight political strategy experts. Each had a different take on what needs to be done but none of them had a comprehensive, coherent plan.

Progressive Zionist Israeli politicians advocate proceeding with care. Some caution against an overly warm public embrace of Abbas and his cabinet of moderates. Others say that the appearance of granting him the West Bank while giving up on Gaza severely damages the efforts to reach a two-state solution that includes all the Palestinian territories. "We must not forget that the West Bank and Gaza are one political entity," said Menachem Klein, professor of political science at Bar Ilan University. Any approach that tries to permanently separate them "will eventually collapse," he told Israel Radio.