Hamas' overwhelming elections victory is "an earthquake that will set us back 50 years and lead the entire region to chaos," former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said after learning of the surprising Palestinian election results.
"The writing was on the wall," Shalom told Ynet" "I warned (Ehud) Olmert in our first meeting after he assumed the post of acting prime minister. For months I attempted to prevent Hamas participation in the elections. We initiated a large-scale diplomatic move and forward the Hamas charter, which calls on Israel's destruction, to world leaders."
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"No, we have nobody to blame but ourselves," Shalom said.
Shalom says Hamas participation in the elections and the group's subsequent win constitute "a very grave mistake on the part of the international community."
"To my regret, Israel will soon face intolerable international pressure. They (the international community) will argue Hamas was elected through a democratic process. It's a pity, because after great efforts we managed to include them in the list of terror organizations, and now all these efforts have been wasted."
'Abbas should have done what Arafat did'
Shalom says he also warned Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas over the implications of a Hamas victory.
"I told him two months ago, in two separate meetings, not to allow Hamas to participate," Shalom said. "I warned him they will remove him either by assassination or in the elections themselves…he should have done what Arafat did in 1996, when he shaved their beards and detained hundreds of them. Abu Mazen (Abbas,) out of fear and weakness, did the exact opposite."
"Israel cannot engage in talks with an organization calling for its destruction," Shalom concluded. "It would have been better to prevent the elections from being held, because the writing was on the wall."
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