Word: maintainers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Hamas and Israel will not negotiate now, or in the near future, although Hamas has given every indication that it plans to maintain their truce with Israel as it undertakes a wholesale cleansing and rebuilding of the corrupt and weakened Palestinian institutions. But when the two sides inevitably meet over a bargaining table-and history's lesson is that when national conflicts are solved in negotiations, those deemed terrorists eventually end up at that table-Israel will find Hamas a far tougher, but also far more credible interlocutor than Arafat ever was. Just as the hard-liner Sharon was widely...
...election victory has added new incentive for Hamas to maintain its current cease-fire with Israel. It has no interest in provoking the Israelis, because it is now determined to carry out its promises to the Palestinian electorate-promises that are very much based on local concerns over corruption and lawlessness. Before the election, many commentators had asked whether Hamas' entering parliament with a minority share in power would create pressure for the movement to disarm. Now, the situation is turned on its head: Hamas will appoint its own people to run the Palestinian security services, and will make sure...
...Israel will not be a priority for Hamas for some time. They will allow President Mahmoud Abbas to maintain contact with Israel, but will not enable him to conduct any substantial negotiations-and many Palestinian observers expect that President Abbas may not stay on the job for more than another few months. In the long run, he can't function as president if his government is pursuing a policy at odds with...
...Hamas already "negotiates" with Israel in a practical sense, although not directly: The current cease-fire is a product of a complicated four-way negotiation between Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and Hamas. It has an incentive to maintain the cease-fire now, because it needs to implement its domestic program. In the end, a Hamas government will rise and fall not by how it transforms relations with Israel, but how it implements its promises to clean up Palestinian government...
...Israeli side is not expecting major changes very soon, and it is interpreting the statements from Hamas about how it is taking very seriously its responsibilities to the Palestinian people as a sign that Hamas will try to behave in a more moderate fashion, at least initially, and to maintain the strategic decision it took a year ago to suspend attacks on Israel...