Wednesday, January 02, 2008

The price of a cease-fire

Cease-Fire with Hamas in Gaza Is No Solution -Ely Karmon

Israel's acceptance of a cease-fire would constitute a strategic victory for Hamas and its allies. Hamas would quickly receive international legitimacy, establish its economic and political control through the generous assistance of the international community, and be able to develop a deterrent military capability vis-a-vis Israel through massive arms smuggling across the Egyptian border.

In a year or two, an extremist state, allied with Iran, Syria and Hizbullah, will emerge on Israel's southern border, with a good chance of taking over the West Bank and affecting the stability of Jordan, Egypt, and possibly also the Islamic movement in Israel.

The writer is a senior researcher at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Inter-Disciplinary Center, Herzliya.
(Ha'aretz)

1 comment:

LHwrites said...

Another example of the world making it near impossible for Israel to protect itself long term. They are in trouble if they do or don't, in so many things dictated by the rest of the world. The world dictates, but is unwilling to back them up militarily. It creates a conundrum.