"He said he would be open to negotiations with Israel, but only if the Israelis have something to offer and enter into talks with good will and respect for the rights of Palestinians.
...

Asked if Hamas would ever recognize Israel, Zahar replied: "Never."

Now the above is a fairly accurate representation of the Hamas point of view. That is a great pity because it is at complete and utter odds with what was decided and clearly stated by the Unitied Nations in 1948 and guaranteed by the United States of America in the same year.

Taking a good look at the Wolfgang post of 26 Jan 06 - 09:40 AM

"This result may indeed be good news on the long run" - Really?

"The voters didn't care in particular about foreign politics" - Period, never mind about "in that vote", the so called voters will do whatever gunman, or self-appointed, politically inspired religious leader will tell them to do.

"There are no real negotiations now between Fatah and Israel which could be in jeopardy by the result." There never really has been, that was the legacy of that complete and utter waste of space, who rejoiced in the name of Yasser Arafat. Who epitomised, "the corrupt old leadership of Fatah which made sure that monies e.g. from the EU" NEVER reached those who needed it. Instead it was pilfered and squandered, by the so called Palestinian Leadership in attempts to convince the majority of Palestinians that Tosser Arafat was still fighting on their behalf. In their return for this misguided belief for years the Palestinian People (If ever any such nation ever existed) were rewarded for their trust and devotion with "an incompetent and corrupt leadership" which now has been voted out of office.

Hamas, with this result, will likely go the way of Fatah, from a terrorist group to "an incompetent and corrupt leadership". The terrorist fringe will go to Jihad, or the Al-Aqusa Martyrs Brigade, whereas the majority of Hamas will go the other way, though still accompanied by violent language, which the Israelis have no other choice but to pay heed to and listen to.

Of course, both Israel and the new leadership of Palestine will negotiate, after some time even openly. With the undeniable reasoning that without the concession from Hamas that Israel has the right to exist there is no meaningful negotiation.

"The good news for Israel is that with Hamas they have a group who can implement an armistice effectively." But the true realisation has to be that that is ONLY what it is, AN ARMISTACE, no resolution, no peace, no solution. Ultimately, Hamas does control the militants, so Israel could rely upon them to adhere to their avowed declaration that the State of Israel must be totally eradicated and driven into the sea.

You see, because counter to Wolfgangs optimistic imaginings, things will most likely go disastrously wrong, Hamas will intensify the war of attrition, not because they are stupid, but because that is what their funding relies upon. Israel should stop all negotiations with "terrorists", because there is no negotiation with "terrorists", you can only negotiate with "terrorists" once the political wing of that "terrorist" movement realise that there is no military victory to be won.