Note: The translations of articles from the Hebrew press
are prepared by the Government Press Office
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They express the views of the authors.
The Attacks Were "Born" at Sharm
(Commentary by Ron Ben-Yishai, "Yediot Ahronot", Sept 6, 1999, p. A3)
The two coordinated bombs yesterday in Haifa and Tiberias had more than
one objective.
As long as the negotiations over the implementation of the Wye Accord
could have ended without results, Hamas waited. The moment the agreement
was signed the other day in Sharm el-Sheikh, the doubts of Hamas's
leadership in Damascus and Iran were over and it seems that the
instructions were given to carry out the attacks.
Hamas knows well that Barak warned Arafat over three months ago that if
there would be murderous attacks, the implementation of agreements between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority would cease. Hamas decided to test
this warning.
An additional reason for yesterday's attacks was the desire to send an
indirect message to Jordan. The arrest of a number of Hamas leaders in
Jordan and the warrants against Hamas leaders located in Iran have been
seen - justifiably - as an attempt by Jordan to prove itself an ally of
the United States and a partner in the peace process.
This is the reason the Hamas leadership abroad decided to prove to King
Abdallah that actions taken against them in Jordan would not prevent them
from operating against Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
It also cannot be dismissed that yesterday's attacks were also a direct
response to the killing of the Abdallah brothers two years ago this week.
As a result of those deaths - two leaders of Hamas's military wing in the
territories - Hamas suffered a serious blow and its operational ability to
carry out attacks was greatly diminished. Hamas has not been able to carry
out a revenge attack as it promised immediately after the killings. It is
very possible that yesterday's attacks, so close to the anniversary of the
killing, were a delayed revenge attack.
In light of this list of motives, it seems that Hamas's leadership abroad
ordered that attacks be carried out at any cost. By the way, it is
important to remember that even if "a local Israeli" carried out the
attack, the initiative may still have come from outside - by the Hamas
leadership abroad. The decision to carry out an attack at any price was
obvious, but the operatives were untrained, the preparations hasty and
negligent and the results were appropriate.
The opponents to the Sharm agreement will say that the very fact of the
attacks prove that Arafat will not keep his security commitments. This
charge is partly correct. In the past two years, Arafat has been satisfied
with foiling specific operations, but avoided harming Hamas's operational
and social infrastructures.
The question now is how will Prime Minister Barak respond. It is
reasonable to assume that Barak will now prefer to avoid not implementing
the Sharm agreement, on the assumption that Arafat will carry out
widespread pre-emptive operations. For their part, Israeli security
sources must now be on the alert for additional attacks that might include
the use of sophisticated devices such as radio-controlled bombs. The
public must also be on maximum alert.