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Israelis Warily Eye Gaza Takeover

The takeover of Gaza by Hamas undoubtedly has serious implications for the estimated 3.7 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. But the events in Gaza are also being carefully scrutinized by Israelis.
 
For them, the bolstered power of a hard-line organization and the emergence of a new Palestinian government may spell trouble, alternatively it may herald a window of opportunity.
 
Politicians, political activists and members of the public are aware that the events could be a turning point, not only with regard to the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, but for the whole region.
 
“I think the events in Gaza and the West Bank show the extremists are gaining more and more support,” says Silvan Shalom, a member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, from the Likud party.
 
Shalom, a former foreign minister, believes this is true not only with regard to Gaza but also to the whole Middle East.
 
“Iran is supporting all of those extremists in order to bring down the regimes in the moderate Arab world,” he says.
 
But on a more local level Shalom believes the events prove the Palestinians cannot run their own lives.
 
Israel withdrew fully from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005 and gave them a chance to rule their lives, but they failed to cash in on this, he says.
 
Some in Israel see the new reality as an opportunity to open a fresh channel of dialogue with moderate Palestinians such as Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) and members of his Fatah organization.
 
The newly formed emergency government headed by Salam Faya’d has no members of Hamas in it, and absolves Israel from the dilemma of communicating with a group which does not recognize Israel and which the latter designates a terror organization.
 
“We have to take advantage of the newly formed situation and try to resume talks with Mahmoud ‘Abbas,” said Danny Yatom, a Knesset member from the Labor Party. “Now we can say we have a partner.”
 
But not everyone agrees.
 
“Fatah leaders are not paragons of virtue,” says Yishai Hollander, spokesman for the Yesha Council, which represents Israeli communities in post-1967 Israel. “Fatah sat with Hamas in the same government and did nothing to stop the Qassams. Strengthening Abu Mazen? Giving him guns? We tried strengthening the moderates and ultimately all the guns landed in the hands of Hamas. The Israeli government needs to make a conscious decision to change direction. We shouldn’t be strengthening anyone or giving weapons to anyone.”
 
Galia Golan is on the other side of the political spectrum. Though she is a leading activist in the left-wing Peace Now movement, she cautions against what she calls a “semi-positive spin” on presenting the situation as an opportunity. If Israel wants to talk with ‘Abbas, Israel has to be serious about it, she says.
 
“At some point the discussions have to include the Gaza Strip and some consciousness of the fact that there’s a lot of support for Hamas there,” she says.
 
“It’s a tragedy. In a sense it plays into the hands of those in Israel who don’t want to reach an agreement.”
 
Golan has believed all along that Israel should be talking with Hamas. The recent events are to a large extent the result of an Israeli policy to boycott the movement and the Palestinians are putting the blame on ‘Abbas, she says.
 
“It’s not going to be easy to strengthen Abu Mazen without making him look like a collaborator,” she says.
 
Israelis living near Gaza are not all attuned to the complexities of what is happening on the other side of the fence. As far as they are concerned, life under Qassam fire is a constant challenge. Whether Gaza is in the hands of Fatah or Hamas is inconsequential to them.
 
“For the meantime, we don’t feel it,” says Ella, a resident of Sderot.
 
The town is suffering from daily rocket attacks by Qassams fired from the nearby Gaza.
 
“Anyone you turn to here will tell you the situation is terrible. It’s no better or worse than before. People say it’s quiet here, but what kind of quiet is this when you’re awoken by a Qassam at seven in the morning?”
 
Netiv Ha’asarah, an Israeli community near Gaza, has beefed up its security and patrols since the takeover.
 
“Everybody is scared,” says Susannah Cohen, a housewife who has lived on the community for five years. “Especially since there are so many children here.”
 
Linda Casher lives on Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, also near Gaza and within the Gaza missile range. The situation in Gaza will only affect her if the Israeli army invades Gaza, she says, since she has a son in a combat unit.
 
“If our boys don’t have to go in there, it won’t change anything. We left so that our boys wouldn’t have to be there. Going into Gaza is a trap,” she says. “We’re not going anywhere. This is our home. I’m much more concerned for our boys than for us living on the kibbutz.”
 
Before the violence between Israelis and Palestinian broke out in 2000, Palestinians would frequently make the short journey from Gaza to work in Yad Mordechai.
 
“We had Gazans working with us for 25 years and I saw them every day. It’s a real tragedy. I can feel their tragedy,” Casher says.
 
Hollander admits that the recent events came as no surprise to him.
 
“Anyone with eyes in their head could have predicted this. You don’t have to be the chief of staff to understand that fleeing and withdrawing unilaterally would strengthen Hamas.”
 
However, he stops short of conveying pleasure in the Palestinians’ misfortune. He is more concerned that a Tehran-backed regime is on Israel’s doorstep.
 
“There is no gloating here at the Yesha Council,” he says. “Iran is now five minutes away from Ashqelon. It’s certainly a liability to Israel to have a terror entity like this."