Dan Diker: Who is listening to Arab warnings about Hamas?
Powerline blog, December 18, 2008
Dan Diker is a foreign policy analyst with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He has filed the following report with us.
Hamas rockets continue to smash into southern Israel today, but this morning’s headline in Israel’s Maariv daily newspaper will likely not be discussed in Washington media, diplomatic, and policy circles: “Arab Countries to Israel: Cut off the Heads of Hamas’ Leaders.” Israel’s Maariv reports unnamed heads of Arab states that have passed diplomatic messages to Jerusalem encouraging Israel to kill Iranian funded and trained Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’ firing of scores of rockets against Southern Israel during the current “cease fire”.
What some Middle East policy analysts and diplomats in Washington may not realize with respect to increasingly optimistic Western assessments of Hamas as a diplomatic partner is that today’s news report in Israel reflects more the rule in Arab capitals than the exception. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak expressed his concern to the Arab press that “Egypt shares a border with Iran following Hamas’ May 2008 rocket assault on the Israeli city of Ashkelon with Iranian manufactured grad rockets.
Earlier this month Egyptian Foreign Minister Egypt’s Ahmed Abul Gheit warned that Cairo would never accept an “Islamic emirate” in Gaza — a key stated goal of Hamas. Mohammad Abdallah Al Zulfa, member of The Saudi Shoura Council said yesterday on the Arab network’s Alhurra news program that “Iran is the big threat in today’s world, supporting all the terrorists from Hamas to Hezbollah to some other terrorists that we don’t know their names yet”. “Iran destabilized the region by supporting all the illegal activities and activists such as Hamas….”
Strangely, while some of Washington’s closest Arab allies are recommending Israel kill the Hamas leadership a recent report by the Saban Center of the Brookings Institute, “Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the next President”, recommends that Israel and the United States talk directly with the Hamas while jettisoning the U.S. led Quartet’s standing pre-conditions for dealing the Iranian backed Muslim Brotherhood group.
Despite the Saban Center call for easing the price of western diplomatic entry to Hamas, this author heard higher decibel warnings recently of Hamas’ incorrigibility from Lebanese analysts as well as Palestinian and Jordanian seniors at a recent conference in Rome on Islamic radicalism as the major threat to stability in the Middle East.
Palestinians, Jordanians, and GCC member state leaders are pointing out that Hamas can not be bargained with, “tamed”, or enticed with carrots for the long haul. A Palestinian Authority official reminded me earlier this week that Hamas received two million dollars from Lashkar e Taibe (the group that massacred nearly 200 in Mumbai this month) during a December 2006 meeting in Pakistan that was first reported in the Italian newspaper Corriera Della Serra.
Washington and Western allies would do well to take notice. There is clear and growing concern and even incredulity among not a few Arab leaders and former officials at what they see as underlying naiveté behind what appears to be a softening of the US and Israeli posture towards Hamas.
I can’t find an English-language version of the Maariv story cited by Dan, but it is discussed in this Arab Middle East report
Israel would do wrong to defeat Hamas without solving the Westbank first ie ending the peace process in a way favourable to Israel. As long as Hamas is there, the “moderate” Arabs need Israel. Let’s keep it that way.
Comment by Ted Belman — December 20, 2008 @ 4:25 pm
Only one indicator would convince me that the Arab nations are serious about peace with Israel: a coordinated plan to take control over both Gaza and difficult parts of the West Bank and put the Palestinians’ phony national dreams to destroy Israel and replace it with a Palestinian state to rest once and for all.
That would involve a joint effort with Israel but the troops on the ground must be from Arab Muslim armies. The chances of such a scenario are zero but it is the only way that Israel can avoid a direct confrontation with the Pals and the best solution to making it clear to Pals that they are a defeated and failed grouping of people who have artificially (and, unfortuately, very successfully) labeled themselves as Pals to make it seem that their aspirations emanate from a unified people - a group of disparate people who have, with the help of the UN and others, written themselves into history and written Israel out of history and into oblivion.
Comment by Gary — December 20, 2008 @ 4:29 pm
whaaaaaat? ted???
israel must crush hamas, period. the incessant rockets are worse than terrible.
Comment by bugsy — December 20, 2008 @ 4:51 pm
I guess that I just don’t understand. Why is there no crowds on the streets protesting and placing pressure on the current lili livered traitors in power? Why isn’t Bibi raising all kinds of hell withis government and rallying the people to force the Defence Minister to use his air power to assasinate Hamas leaders? Why is Israel fighting a “Tit for Tat” philosophy? Why is Israel so worried about civilians when all of Hamas and the other terrorists are civilians?
It just bugs the hell out of me because I don’t understand.
Comment by Ed D — December 20, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
I don’t know, but it seems to me that a belligerent entity a few kilometers from Israeli communities armed with rockets and de-linked from governing authorities in Egypt and Saudi Arabia (wink, wink; nudge, nudge) must be a dream come true for the Arabs. Israel bleeds while the Europeans and global aid organizations give money and comfort to the barbarians and the Arabs laugh.
Isn’t this precisely the proxy war the Arabs have been inciting and funding for the last 40 years?
Comment by Charles Martel — December 20, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
I get a sneaky feeling that there is a near consensus of our leadership that as long as we keep Hamas in control of Gaza and threaten control of Y & S, this gives Israel a block of Worlds anti Israel wolves. Remember they won an election democratically and would do so again including the West Bank if held today. As long as we got Hamas we have a legitimate out or block of world pressure to help create a Pali State. Olmert to his credit has not given up anything tangible yet unlike BB, Sharon, Peres, Begin, Rabin with Barak offering the whole store only to be rejected. so I see here a game of double and triple spin and fluff but so far nothing given up. Looks like Olmert will be gone before he can, if he really wanted to, make irrevocable concessions. The only thing keeping Hamas from taking the West Bank is the IDF in control of the whole of WB.
So I think it serves Israels strategic purpose for keeping Hamas in Power at least for now. Tough call and requires a lot of nerve to pull it off. Time will tell. Waiting for BB? and what the BHO will do in the next couple of months
Comment by yamit82 — December 20, 2008 @ 6:39 pm
Yamit understands me.
Comment by Ted Belman — December 20, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
It’s a strange state of affairs indeed when Arab regimes are complaining that Israel and America are too soft in dealing with an Arab terror group and advising assassinating its leaders.
Comment by Laura — December 21, 2008 @ 2:14 pm
[...] sich greift, die Hamas solle als Verhandlungspartner akzeptiert werden, gibt es im arabischen Raum immer mehr Stimmen, die vor der Hamas warnen und es gerne sehen würden, wenn Israel die Hamas-Führung komplett [...]
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