By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
May 17, 2005
The new head of Israel's General Security Services warned Tuesday that withdrawing from Gaza and Samaria and tolerating Hamas's participation in ?Palestinian? government were policies that posed a future threat to the safety of Israel's Jews.
Yuval Diskin took over as GSS chief Sunday, replacing Avi Dichter, who many felt was canned for his open opposition to aspects of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's ?disengagement? plan.
Diskin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the planned pullout from northern Samaria was likely to lead to ?Palestinian? rocket and missile attacks on nearby Israeli population centers.
Dichter had previously issued several warnings about the expected escalation of rocket attacks from Gaza and the IDF's increased inability to deal with the threat following Israel's retreat from the coastal strip.
The new GSS boss also criticized Israel's apparent tolerance for the participation of Hamas terrorists in ?Palestinian? government, saying that policy would make it nearly impossible to eliminate known terror chiefs in the future.
Hamas made a surprisingly strong showing in recent local elections, and is expected to win numerous seats in the upcoming vote for the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Israel has indicated it would have no problem with Hamas's political participation, if the group first disarmed. Hamas has refused to do so, and PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas insists he will not honor his commitment to forcibly disarm any terrorists.
Last week, Abbas mocked Israel's democratic values after Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom expressed opposition to an armed terrorist organization being allowed to run for parliament.
The Sharon government has also given tacit approval to Abbas's strategy of protecting wanted terrorist gunmen from Israeli justice by integrating them into the official PA security forces.
On Sunday, Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA) director Dr. Aaron Lerner asked the IDF Spokesperson's Office if wanted terrorists located in Jericho and Tulkarm were being permitted by Israel to publicly bear arms if they put on a PA police uniform.
Both Jericho and Tulkarm were recently transferred to full PA security control, after Abbas pledged to disarm the terrorist infrastructure located in those towns.
The IDF responded to Lerner that wanted terrorists in Jericho and Tulkarm, even those with Jewish blood on their hands, could indeed publicly bear arms without Israeli interference if they signed up for duty and collected a PA salary.