By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Jul 25, 2005
In an indication of what lies ahead for Israel after ?disengagement,? America's publicly voiced support for PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas's ?security efforts? was followed at the weekend by a callous ?Palestinian? response to the terrorist killing of an Israeli couple.
Dov and Rachel Kol, aged 58 and 53 respectively, were gunned down Saturday evening near Gaza's Kissufim Crossing while returning to Jerusalem following a visit in Gush Katif with their new granddaughter.
While Abbas issued an unsympathetic ?condemnation? of the attack citing its poor timing, Palestinian Authority-controlled media Sunday hailed the killers as ?heroic martyrs.?
Both gunmen were shot dead by IDF soldiers, but not before wounding seven more Israelis.
Earlier Saturday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had praised Abbas for his ?ongoing efforts to enforce the rule of law ... [and the] Palestinian leadership's commitment to ensuring security and tracking down those who perpetrate violent attacks...?
Her remarks came during a joint press conference with Abbas in Ramallah.
That kind of American approval despite the PA's ongoing non-compliance with decade-old commitments to root out terror and effectively condemn the violent murder of Israeli Jews will only make such aggression more commonplace, warned analysts.
Following Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza, Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Reuven Erlich of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center foresees four possible scenarios, the most likely of which center around unprecedented rocket attacks on Israeli cities, assaults on Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and inter-Palestinian fighting.
Ehrlich and his researchers did not include renewed Israeli-PA negotiations based on the internationally-backed Road Map peace plan in their list of possible scenarios, Arutz 7 reported.