Many nations were quick to condemn Israel’s killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin on Monday. The image of the wheelchair-bound cleric, emerging from dawn prayers and facing missiles fired from Israeli helicopters, incensed thousands of Palestinians, who marched in angry protest.
Yassin was the leader of a terrorist organization. Hamas is dedicated to eliminating the state of Israel, and its weapon of choice is the suicide bomb targeted at civilians. If he didn’t mastermind every attack, he certainly provided much inspiration for those who strap explosives to their chests and board Israeli buses or march into Israeli restaurants in order to kill the maximum number of innocents.
There may be hope that negotiations with Palestinian factions will one day lead to a peaceful settlement in the Middle East, but Hamas will not be part of a successful negotiation.
Indeed, its professed goals and violent means harm the Palestinian cause. Last week, suicide bombings claimed by Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades killed 10 people. The intent was to stop the resumption of talks on the “road map” to Mideast peace, and they had the desired effect. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon canceled planned talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.
We’ll skip the mourning for Yassin. We will, though, ask this: What measure of security did Israel achieve in exchange for inviting the world’s scorn? The answer: None.
Indeed, Israel once had Yassin where it wanted him, behind bars. He was sentenced to life in prison by an Israeli court in 1989 for founding Hamas and inciting Palestinians to attack Israelis. Israel, though, released him as a goodwill gesture to Jordan’s King Hussein in 1997.
The killing of Yassin sets back the effort to resume peace talks and will likely help Hamas recruit more suicide bombers. The terrorist attacks will continue, perhaps increase.
The impact of this on the power struggle within Palestinian leadership is more difficult to gauge. Hamas has grown increasingly powerful in the last few years, at the expense of Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority. The Authority’s finances appear to be in a shambles and Arafat’s grip on power may be tenuous. That was underscored earlier this month when a magazine publisher close to Arafat was gunned down.
Israeli leaders apparently are gambling that the backlash from the killing of Yassin, which began hours after the attack, is worth the price. The price, though, is likely to be very steep.
In the wake of Yassin’s assassination, it is all the more urgent that Sharon follow through on his plan to withdraw Israeli settlements and security forces from the Gaza Strip as part of a unilateral separation from the Palestinians. Sharon has been trying to build support among some reluctant hard-liners in his Likud Party for such a move.
The killing of the leader of Hamas only underscores that separation may be the only solution for a conflict where bloodshed begets bloodshed begets bloodshed begets bloodshed.
