Little Short-Run Gain from Gaza Pullout

(Chicago Sun-Times) Jay Bushinsky - Shalom Harari and Mark A. Heller of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies expect Israel's "disengagement" from the Gaza Strip to bolster Palestinian terrorism, harm the Palestinian economy, and throw the Jewish state into political turmoil. "Most indicators suggest - and most analysts agree - that while the terrorists' major center of gravity will shift to the West Bank and their focus will be on the settlements and the access roads (if not also on targets inside the "green line"), Gaza will at least serve as a training area and as the terrorists' rear echelon and support base for weapons smuggling and local production," they write. They see little chance in the short-run of new political initiatives. "Israeli politics is likely to be paralyzed after September 2005, by coalition crises and the possibility that the country will enter a pre-election phase," they write.


2005-08-19 00:00:00

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