Israel looks to Hamas leader for
peaceful election

May 25, 1996
Web posted at: 5:05 p.m. EDT (2105 GMT)

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- With Israeli elections just four days away there's a chance the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas will suspend armed attacks against Israel.

Israel is looking to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the aging spiritual leader of the Hamas movement, to issue a key policy statement on the possible suspension of violence by his Islamic group.

Some Hamas activists estimate that a majority of their supporters back a temporary suspension of armed attacks.

But there's no way of telling whether the word of Yassin would carry sufficient weight inside and outside of Israel to achieve it.

Yassin, now frail and infirm, is serving a life sentence for ordering the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers. But now he may be ready to use his influence to prevent violence in the run-up to Israel's election and beyond.

"This is a continuation of the beliefs some of us have of the necessity to stop the military operations and re-open dialogue with the Palestine National Authority," said Hamas leader Jamil Hamami

Bitter differences between Hamas and Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Liberation Organization in Gaza and the West Bank have served to undermine the peace process.

A wave of Hamas suicide bombings in February and March inflicted heavy political damage on the Labor government of Shimon Peres.

The carnage wiped out his lead in the opinion polls which widely favored him as the natural successor to the assassinated Yitzhak Rabin.

Peres' opponent, Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party, is seen as taking a more hardline approach toward Arabs.

Since the suicide attacks, Palestinian areas have been subjected to severe closure orders, restricting most movement and creating harsh economic and social conditions.

This has resulted in a sharp drop in Palestinian support for Hamas, spurring local Hamas leaders to negotiate with Arafat for a greater voice in Palestinian affairs.

There is some question as to whether a directive from Yassin would ensure peaceful elections Wednesday. And Israel suspects militant Islamic groups outside the county, such as the pro-Iranian Hezbollah are fomenting violence.

"Iran is trying very hard to perpetrate terror again. So, an appeal by Yassin is a good step but this is not enough," said Israeli government spokesman Uri Dromi.

In southern Lebanon Saturday guerrillas exploded a roadside bomb damaging a truck and injuring its driver. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, though it bore the hallmarks of Hezbollah, which is leading a war to evict Israeli forces and their allies from southern Lebanon.

If Hamas is able to halt terror it could help Peres hold off a tough election challenge. Such a move by the Islamic group would be based on practical necessity rather than any softening of ideology.

Correspondent Brent Sadler, the Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.

• CNN will air Peres - Netanyahu debate Sunday
  1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT)

Related stories:

• Peres tries to curb Iranian influence in Israeli elections - May 19, 1996
• Israel says Iran sent bomber to sway elections - May 16, 1996

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