[redneck2]

Hamas won the election in Palestine. Now Israel has their arch enemy with a homeland (which they gave them) right next door.

Now Iran doesnn't need rockets to hit Israel. Hamas can just toss 'em over the fence.

The hits just keep on coming.

[Marko Kloos]

Israel has had archenemies "right next door" since the inception of Israel. Hamas has been "right next door" to Israel since Hamas was founded.

[cloudkiller]

This may not be as bad a development as it seems. When a group that has served as violent critic and rabble-rousing radical element is suddenly forced to take responsibility for day-to-day governance, its relationship with the people changes dramatically.

The key thing that the US has to do is try to prevent the further slide towards Islamism of what has always been a secular conflict, fought by secular-minded groups. Hamas brings a more religious element to the table, unfortunately, but our actions will have a huge impact on what transpires. The US has promoted the cause of Islamic Radicalism in the middle east by supporting and propping up corrupt undemocratic regimes for too long.

[1911 guy]

There is a real problem, but the root is not these two groups. The Palestinians are being used by surrounding arab nations to wage an undeclared war on Israel. Now that Israel has conceded to demands, the Palestinians will still be tossing molatav cocktails and blowing themselves up in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for some new reason. The real reason is war of attrition, but must remain unstated by them. The advantage Israel has now is localizing the enemy. A concentration of Palestinians is easier to target than scattered settlements.

Hamas is nothing more than a puppet para-military group for surrounding arab countries. They take the money and do what their handlers tell them. Even Arafat realized they (Palestinians) were not in control of their own negotiations when he turned down the deal offered to him, which met all Palestinian demands of the time. His reason was simple and real. He would be assasinated for making peace with Israel. When asked about this in an interview, he said if he made the deal he'd be "drinking tea with Rabin". Who, by the way, had been shot not long before.

[HankB]

By electing terrorists, the Palestinians have shown that terrorists are not just a small, tiny group, with the majority wanting peace. Maybe now the USA will stop the flow of our foreign aid money to the Palestinian Authority, which IMHO is a worse scandal than the UN's oil-for-food scam with Iraq.

On a more practical note, there may actually be some good in this.

Since many Hamas leaders are now elected officials, it would seem to mean that, from time to time, whenever their government meets, they'll all be in one place which will be known ahead of time.

A PERFECT target for a couple of laser-guided bombs - particularly if a suicide bomber takes out a busload of civilians in Tel Aviv shortly before Hamas meets.

[Optical Serenity]

Israel has had archenemies "right next door" since the inception of Israel. Hamas has been "right next door" to Israel since Hamas was founded.

+1. The only difference may be that now Iran has a new kid to sponsor heavily around the corner. Ah well, at the end...I think Israel will be fine against Hamas.