http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=5018(snip)
First, Yasin opposed terror attacks outside Israel and stood in the way of an expansion of Hamas terror operations overseas. He did not support Bin Laden's global Jihad and focused on a struggle against Israel as a fight against occupation. After Yasin's killing, we could be facing terror attacks against Jewish targets worldwide: whether perpetrated by Hamas operatives or by the group's supporters in Moslem communities throughout Europe and even the US. This line of action would strike at Israel's soft underbelly, where it is ill prepared to defend itself.
Second, anyone who thinks that the missiles which eliminated Yasin will also eliminate Hamas – is mistaken. The inheritance will naturally pass on to Abd ea-Aziz Rantisi or to a collective type of leadership headed by the group’s current senior members and the leaders of the military wing Iz a-Din al-Kassam. The new leadership would perhaps be more vigilant and take extraordinary precautions to evade the IAF helicopter gunships hovering above, but one must remember that Hamas controls an enormous religious and social infrastructure in Gaza that could easily be called into action even by a secretive, behind-the-scene type of leadership.
The Hamas won’t suffer extensive damage, but the assassination - as I am willing to risk predicting - has ended the career of Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) and perhaps even that of Mohammed Dahlan. Whoever gave the order, didn’t evaluate or understand the full extent of Yasin’s influence that goes way beyond Hamas.
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Harsh criticism of Israel’s action is expected from the Arab world. One of the first thoughts that crossed my mind when I had first heard of the assassination was King Abdullah’s last visit to Prime Minister Sharon’s private residence – the Sycamore Ranch - only two days ago. The visit bears a great deal of resemblance to the meeting that took place between the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the late President of Egypt Anwar Sadat in June of 1980, two days before IAF fighter jets pounded the Iraqi nuclear reactor.
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Dr. Paz heads a research project on Islamic movements at Herzliya’s Interdisciplinary Center