Hamas rockets could torpedo Israeli elections
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
TEL AVIV Ñ The Hamas regime's military assets could be deployed to force the cancellation of Israel's parliamentary elections on Feb. 10. ShareThis
Israeli government sources said Hamas could fire salvos of missiles and rockets that would prevent hundreds of thousands of people in central and southern Israel from voting in Knesset elections. They said Hamas has threatened to wield this option in an effort to win such concessions as open borders with Egypt and Israel as well as international aid.
"Continued Israeli restraint may destroy the gains of the war Ñ which leads senior officers in Southern Command, as well as among those who took active part in the fighting, to support a harsh response," the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Feb. 3.
"On the other hand, a more heavy-handed retaliation, such as an assassination of a senior Hamas figure, may lead to renewed fighting, to the point that the residents of Ashdod and Ashkelon will have to vote on Feb. 10 during the breaks between rocket attack sirens."
"Right now, we face a situation where Hamas could wipe out the election process within moment's notice," a government source said. "If Hamas doesn't agree to a ceasefire, then there could be chaos next week [during the elections]."
On Feb. 3, Hamas, in what the sources said marked a warning to Israel, escalated rocket fire into the Jewish state. Palestinian gunners fired a BM-21 Grad rocket from the Gaza Strip that landed in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Nobody was injured, but damage was reported.
On Feb. 3, Defense Minister Ehud Barak convened what officials termed an emergency meeting of military and intelligence chiefs. Barak was said to have sought intelligence assessments of Hamas capabilities and intentions as well as the feasibility of an immediate ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
"We know that most of the fire was not carried out by Hamas but by other small organizations, but Hamas is responsible," Barak said. "Hamas must act to stop this. If we have to, we will hit Hamas again."
The Israeli military response to Palestinian missile strikes from the Gaza Strip has divided the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Olmert and many of his Cabinet colleagues support another ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Barak has appealed for patience, saying Egypt could win Hamas's agreement to a ceasefire.
"Deterrence must now be achieved vis-a-vis Hamas, and deterrence is achieved through force, and great force," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said.
Officials said Olmert and several of his allies in the Cabinet support the cancellation of the Feb. 10 elections. They said Hamas and its Palestinian militia allies could disrupt national elections by massive fire toward such Israeli cities as Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beersheba and Gedera. Of all the candidates for prime minister, only Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, deemed the frontrunner, has specifically pledged to topple the Hamas regime.
"We can either agree to postpone elections to a date after another military operation or watch how Hamas turns this country into chaos next week," an official said.
Officials said the intelligence community has assessed that Hamas was being encouraged by Iran and Syria to torpedo the Israeli elections. They said Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Masha'al and five members of the political bureau were receiving tens of millions of dollars in aid as well as instructions during their visit to Teheran in early February.
"Without defeating the Iranian regime, we will never defeat jihadi Islam," former Israeli Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon told the Herzliya Conference, an annual strategic session in Israel. "We need to politically and economically isolate Teheran and use military force if necessary."