Dr. Dan Scheuftan: 'Very Little Chance That President Mubarak Can Persuade Hamas Leader Mashal To Free Israeli Soldier' 'Israel Has No Choice But To Make Palestinians Pay High Price For Terrorism'
What are the prospects the Egyptians will be able to persuade Hamas leader Halad Mashal to free the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shavit? Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called off the next stage of the rolling IDF operation into the northern part of the Gaza Strip in order to give the Egyptian effort a chance. Olmerts decision has sparked sharp criticism from the right- wing opposition which charges that the PM is negotiating with Hamas. This is denied by Israeli officials. Dr. Dan Scheuftan, an Arab Affairs analyst at Haifa University discusses various aspects of the current crisis in an interview with David Essing:
I see very little chance that Egypts President Hosni Mubarak will persuade Hamas leader Halad Mashal to release the kidnapped Israeli soldier. Thats the opinion of Dr. Dan Scheuftan an Arab affairs expert at Haifa University in Israel. At the same time, Scheuftan believes that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will make a big mistake if he agrees to negotiate or make concessions to Hamas for the release of the soldier who was abducted in a cross border raid into Israel that also killed two soldiers on June 25th. The analyst defends former Prime Minister Ariel Sharons decision to unilaterally evacuate all Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip last summer saying it makes it easier for Israel to fight the terrorists. In his view, the Jewish state must be ready to live with a low level of Palestinian terrorism but cannot tolerate the rocketing of its towns or the killing and kidnapping of its soldiers. The solution was to make the Palestinians pay an intolerable price for their violence.