- 29 Feb 2008 08:29
#1464658
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Of course, this will never happen. Even as we speak, the extremist Israeli government is drawing up plans to invade Palestine and scupper any hope of a negotiated settlement.
I'm intrigued too, that 60% of Israeli see negotiation as a possibility, whereas pro-Israel posters on this forum do not. I can only assume that the posters to this forum represent a more militant extremist viewpoint than the average Israeli might hold.
Poll: Most Israelis Want Truce With Hamas
Two-Thirds Support Talks With Arch-Enemy; Israeli Air Strike Kills 5 Hamas Militants
JERUSALEM, Feb. 27, 2008
(CBS/AP) As Israel's military continues its targeted campaign against Palestinian militants a new poll released Wednesday shows that almost two-thirds of the Israeli public supports direct peace talks with the arch-enemy, the militant group Hamas.
The poll, carried out by the Dialog company and published in the left-leaning Haaretz daily, showed that 64 percent of Israelis believe Israel should talk to Hamas now to bring a halt to the steady barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and to win the release of a captured soldier, Cpl. Gilad Schalit.
Cpl. Schalit was seized in June 2006 by Hamas militants and has been held in Gaza since then as talks on a prisoner swap have stalled.
"The poll reflects the view among a growing number of Israelis that a truce is the only way to stop daily Palestinian rocket attacks," reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger.
Only 28 percent of Israelis reject talks with Hamas, according to the poll, that included 500 respondents and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
The findings run contrary to Israeli government policy and most of the rhetoric coming from both civilian and military officials. The official line from leaders has been, and remains, that no negotiations will be held with Hamas until the rocket attacks stop and the group recognizes Israel's existence, reports Berger.
Several Hamas officials have proposed a truce with Israel.
Israel's government has opposed a truce with Hamas due to fears the Islamic group which wrested control of the Gaza Strip could use it to rearm for another round of conflict.
However, some Israeli officials have recently expressed support for such talks. Those officials include former heavyweights in Israel's defense establishment and Eli Moyal, mayor of the town of Sderot, which is bombarded almost daily by Gaza militants.
In the short term, the possibility of any cease-fire agreement seems unlikely, given intensifying violence between Hamas militants and Israeli forces.
An Israeli aircraft blew up a minivan carrying Hamas gunmen in southern Gaza on Wednesday, killing five militants, including two key commanders involved in rocket attacks on Israel, the group said.
After the strike, burned bodies in camouflage uniforms were visible in the white minivan. Berger reports Palestinian officials said a senior rocket engineer and a rocket squad commander were among the dead.
The air strike came on the heels of a Palestinian rocket attack on Israel that left a 10-year-old Israeli boy wounded Monday in Sderot. His arm was partially severed and reattached in surgery.
Berger says the number of Israelis supporting negotiations is far more than in previous polls. "The idea of talking to Hamas was once unthinkable because the group was behind dozens of bloody suicide bombings a few years ago and its charter calls for the destruction of Israel.
"But, recently radio talk shows have featured some former defense officials who say the only way to stop the rocket fire is to talk to Hamas about a truce," said Berger, who confirmed the significance within Israel of the Sderot mayor's comments.
Full Story
Of course, this will never happen. Even as we speak, the extremist Israeli government is drawing up plans to invade Palestine and scupper any hope of a negotiated settlement.
I'm intrigued too, that 60% of Israeli see negotiation as a possibility, whereas pro-Israel posters on this forum do not. I can only assume that the posters to this forum represent a more militant extremist viewpoint than the average Israeli might hold.