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Hamas Bombshell Win Rattles Israel
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Olmert was to convene an emergency security meeting to discuss the ramifications of Hamas's win in the general election.
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, January 26, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
The stunning election victory of the Palestinian resistance group
Hamas landed explosively on the scene of Israeli politics on Thursday,
January 26, with acting Premier Ehud Olmert planning an emergency
security meeting to discuss the ramifications of the apparent Hamas
triumph in the general election.
The
prospect of a Hamas-led government is the biggest challenge to face
Olmert since assuming power after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered
a massive stroke on January 4, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Olmert
will later Thursday huddle together with top army and security
officials as well as Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni to discuss the outcome of the Palestinian elections, a
source in his office told AFP.
Mofaz
has already convened a meeting with top security officials on Thursday
morning to discuss the same issue, according to Israel's Ha'aretz
daily.
Officials
in Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's long-dominant Fatah
concurred the resistance group appeared to have captured a large
majority of seats in Wednesday's legislative elections, the first in a
decade.
Acknowledging
the defeat, Premier Ahmed Qorei and his cabinet ministers resigned
Thursday.
Israel
has warned that a Hamas victory would ensure the non-existent peace
process remains frozen.
"Earthquake"
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Beilin said the election results still provided a chance for an agreement with moderate Palestinians.
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Amir
Peretz, the chairman of Israel's opposition Labor party, said Thursday
that his party does not consider Hamas to be a partner for peace
negotiations, reported Ha'aretz.
"Hamas
is not a partner because of its course of action and beliefs and it
undermines stability in the Middle East."
He
said his party has "no intention of allowing negotiations to take
place, or let someone else force us to recognize an organization that
declares it seeks to destroy Israel."
Peretz
added that the US and European countries to clarify their stance in
the wake of the new political reality.
Hawkish
Likud MK Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio Thursday that the government
made a grave mistake by allowing the Palestinian parliamentary
elections to take place with Hamas's participation, reported Ha'aretz.
He
described the purported results as an "earthquake," and said
they reflected Israel's "tragic failure" in its war against
Hamas.
Steinitz,
the chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,
said Israel could have prevented Hamas's success by preventing the
vote from taking place even at the price of a confrontation with the
United States.
Yossi
Beilin, a former justice minister and the chairman of the leftist
Meretz party, also blamed Israel for strengthening Hamas.
"Israel
has a large role in weakening the Palestinian Authority and
strengthening Hamas," he told Israel Radio.
"The
unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, not as a part of an
agreement with Abu Mazen (Abbas), greatly strengthened the Hamas."
He,
however, said the election results still provided a chance for an
agreement with moderate Palestinians, said the Israeli daily.
Beilin
called on Olmert to immediately launch peace talks with Abbas.
"Rock
and a Hard Place"
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Steinitz described the purported results as an "earthquake," and reflected Israel's "tragic failure" in its war against Hamas.
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Israeli
media coverage of the Palestinian election results went deeper, in a
bid to forecast expected implications on Israel's own general
election, slated for March 28.
"Olmert
is now facing a real crisis, as he has the option of a bad choice or
an even worse one," Ha'aretz said in a front-page analysis
on Thursday.
"If
he shows signs of moderation or softening toward Hamas following its
victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, his political
rival, Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, would base his party's
election campaign on the claim that the Gaza pullout was a reward for
Hamas," he maintained.
"On
the other hand, if he threatens to sever ties with the Palestinians,
boycott them, further delay funds owed to them or impose any other
punishment, Olmert will find himself facing increasing international
pressure to honor the legitimate, democratic election results, and to
prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority's social and public
services."
In
its analysis, the Israeli daily predicted that in the coming days
Olmert will try to coordinate with the US to "alleviate
international pressure, and at the same time demonstrate a tough
domestic stand in order to avoid losing votes to Netanyahu."
Ha'aretz
said Hamas's victory strengthens Kadima's stands because it rules out
any possibility of permanent agreement talks.
It
added that the new development also adds power to Kadima's "no
partner" theory, which states that the only alternative available
to Israel is to unilaterally determine the border.
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