Hamas is ready for war, Israel isn’t
(From DEBKAfile )
Hamas has raised the stakes in its war of nerves against Israel, and will most probably keep tension high by repeated extensions of its deadline.
Hamas views Israel’s mixed responses to the crisis as betraying vacillation and divided resolve. On the one hand, prime minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Amir Peretz, thunder repeatedly that Israel will not succumb to blackmail and reward terrorist hostage-taking by freeing Palestinian prisoners; on the other, undercover, indirect negotiations are allowed to go forward with Hamas and its kidnap team, implying Israel’s willingness to discuss freeing Palestinian prisoners for the abducted soldier.
The Palestinians are likewise not impressed by the military steps Israel has pursued in the Gaza Strip since Shalit was taken hostage:
1. Despite high-sounding declarations of intent, the IDF does not appear to be searching for the missing soldier or trying to bring the abductors under direct military pressure. Jerusalem’s sole targeted actions have been confined to diplomacy and got nowhere.
2. After their limited incursion, Israeli armored forces have been more or less stationary and left the Palestinian military build-up in the Gaza Strip unscathed.
3. The international machine Israel brought to bear on Syria - and through the Syrian ruler on Hamas-Damascus - was easily parried.
DEBKAfile goes to the central problem faced by Olmert:
The statement made by US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice Sunday night, July 2, telling Israel to beware of a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is interpreted by the Palestinians as warning Israel off expanding its military offensive.
Heartened by these developments, the abductors slapped down their trump card, the life of their hostage Gilead Shalit ,Monday, July 3, in a bid to goad Israel into staging its inevitable military clash clash with the Palestinians sooner rather than later, before Israeli intelligence tracks them to their lair.
In issuing its ultimatum, Hamas set the pace by proving faster on the draw than Israel in filling the vacuum left by the failed Egyptian mediation.
1 comment:
The Palis vote for war. I say give 'em it.
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