Those words are "Free Gaza Movement". And that's WITH Hamas running Gaza!

Yes, seriously, it is brilliant and something I have always wondered about. If Hamas ever comes around to peace, it will be much more durable. In the meantime, the Euopeans will have a harder time snuggling with Hamas,

The PLO has long used this strategy. Marwan Baghrouti headed a supposedly independent terror operation while all the time he was just doing what Arafat bid him to do. The good guys bad guys allows the PLO to talk peace while continuing terror. It isn't a strategy for them, it is a way of life.

I would suggest that the writer building a housing development next to house and bring in the leaders of the mafia. When they start shooting see how things go. Hamas wants his home in Tel Aviv. This column is simply nuts.

Deep down, what's the real difference between Hamas and the PA? Hamas would murder every last Israeli man woman and child and thinks even the rocks would stand up and help them. After wiping out Israel, the PA would allow the survivors (probably about 1/3 of Israel's Jewish population) to live as Dhimmis/slaves in their state. It's time to leave Abbas and the rest of his corrupt 2-faced cronies to the tender mercies of his Arab brothers. G-d may have promised us Judea and Sumaria but he didn't say when. Right now, it's an albatross around our necks. Israel is better off without it.

A great idea just as long as what you REALLY seek is to ship out all the Jews in cattle cars to death camps

Hamas has to be dealt with sooner or later,one way or the other..and since they don't want peace,it will be the other. Stop throwing money at the useless Abbass and face reality here and this ongoing farce of peace talks,which everyone knows is just that..a farce!

the box puts a whole new perspective on things. I never would have imagined this myself. You've given the Reader a great deal more to consider. I love the idea of Israel taking the initiative. Without our intervention, a bloody civil war will take place in the Westbank. We just have to protect our own.

Bechor is 100% correct. It's time to end the ridiculous distinction between the "good" Fatah terrorists and the "bad" Hamas terrorists. Fatah is every bit as committed to destroying Israel as Hamas, as it's covenant proves. Fatah's daily broadcasts are every bit as genocidal as Hamas'. Fatah has maimed and murdered far more Jews than Hamas, Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad combined. Hamas, on the other hand, is atleast honest about it's genocidal plans in all languages. Unlike Fatah, Hamas doesn't talk "peace" in Non-Arabic languages and genocide in Arabic. Fatah is far more dangerous than Hamas. The one victory I wish for Hamas is over Fatah.

He is a man of vision and sharp logic.

Any strategic thinker knows that is better to have an enemy who stabs you in the front where you can see it and protect yourself, then an enemy who deceives you and stabs you in the back. With Hamas we know what we have we know what to expect and we know what to do. With PA it will be a game of deceipt, lies, back stabbings and with the blessing of the entire world to legitimize it. Thank gd for Ahmadinejad, the idiot simply tells us exactly what he wants to do way in advance. If he didnt exist, we would have to create him. Those were the words of a previous Mosad agent.

Israel need to wait (or speed it up) for MB come to power in Egypt and Jordan (not necessarily both). Only then Hamas must be allowed to take over WB. Hamas will provoke war and will create favorable conditions for making Israeli waist considerably thicker. Should not forget about chest and touches too.

Be careful you may get what you wish for!

Hamas has been shelling us and the world is treating them as if they were the PLO. What we need to do is to destroy all the terrorist organizations starting with the PLO.

There is a Muslim state in Jordan and a quasi-Muslim state in Gaza. Enough.

' If they fire at us from there, we fire back at them. If they don’t shoot, we don’t shoot either. " If you like the Gaza situation so much, move to Sderot. For all its grievous ills, the PA is not shooting rockets at Israeli towns. "The international pressure exerted on Israel would be eased and even disappear, as nobody wishes to grant a state to terrorists." Again, are you crazy? Has the international pressure disappeared vis a vis Gaza? NO! Instead, we see Goldstone Commissions, crazed jihadi morons getting killed and the world believing their lies, fake power outages, armed attacks on Egyptians by Hamas, a burden on Israel that includes not only fortifying area schools but also continuing to supply fuel, electricity, emergency medical treatment etc. as well as allowing through any non-military item. The reality is that the economy in the WB is growing rapidly precisely because the most radical elements have been largely driven into hiding by the PA. I'm no fan of the PA, but you are absolutely crazy to dream of a Hamas takeover in the WB.

of Oz has a brain for Mr. Bechor. But he makes sense if you're in the mood for deadpan comedy.

It really is a sad day when even a smart guy like Bechor turns to fantasy. What makes him think that the same world that for years insisted Israel talk to Arafat and the PLO wouldn't do likewise regarding Hamas? Even today there are influential voices insisting they can talk to the "political" wings of Hamas and Hizbullah. Does he think they won't insist that Israel continue supporting the West Bank as they do today regarding Hamas-run Gaza? If Bechor would have us look to Egypt's attitude toward Gaza, note not just how arms continue to flow in but that Egypt does everything to make certain Gaza remains "Israel's problem". Why does he think Jordan, with its current Palestinian majority, will do any better? The simpler strategy would be to simply tell the plain truth: that Fatah is only tactically different from Hamas, that they demonstrate daily that they have neither the will nor the capability to promote and enforce a peace settlement with Israel.

better to deal with enemies to your face than behind your back!

"It won't matter". Go read Bechor's column again. He's saying that it'll be Egypt's headache, and the Egyptian navy will most likely sink the Free Gaza Movement ships rather in order to get a clear message across. Egypt does NOT like Hamas. In fact, only Iran does. Well, and maybe Hugo Chavez. Gaza will be as free as Egypt lets it, and that probably won't be much. If Hamas arms itself and shoots rockets at Tel Aviv in violation of international laws, that will be a declaration of war and most likely will result in a massive Israeli retaliation. Bechor is saying: so be it. While his argument is rather superficial, I think it is valid enough to warrant further game-playing scenarios at the high levels. The Jordanians will NOT be happy. Nor will Egypt. Nor will Fatah roll over easily and die like they did in Gaza. The result will most likely be a very messy, bloody civil war. My alternative may be less painful: Israel allows a joint Palestinian-Jordanian force to cross and invade Gaza and defeat Hamas. The prisoners of war who survive won't have it so easy, as Fatah will want revenge for Hamas murdering a couple of hundred Fatah men, and blowing the legs off of dozens more (Time Magazine did a great video story about it - check out their website).

What a brilliant, simple, and, doable idea to solve Israel's so called "Palestinian" problem! I sure hope Israel's leadership will take note of Guy Bechor's brilliant suggestion.

I agree with it 200% ;)

If Hamas takeover West Bank, the next step will be Tel Aviv.

I'm glad to know that there is no smuggling weapons from Egypt into Gaza. Glad you warned me that, because if not then I would be concerned that they will slinging their weapons from Jordan. N.B-I'm beeing sarcarstic...

You are calling for creating a pro iranian entity in the west bank. It would not take them long before they start launching rockets at tel aviv and the rest of israel causing many civilian casualties, damage to infrasturcture, economy and tourisim. Is this what you want?

The thought of a Hamastan in the west bank is crazy. The resulting civil war (remember, as of today the Fatah guns far outnumber the Hamas guns in the west bank) will probably result in the wiping out of Hamas in the west bank and the deeper entrenchment of Fatah as the intransigent pseudo-partner unable to do anything other than stay in power as a welfare state. Don't worry, the EU will continue to fund them. The problem of Hamas in Gaza will be harder to solve. Israel could indeed hand the headache to Egypt. If Egypt clamped down, well, it's an all-Arab affair. If Egypt eases off you can expect the major import to be arms, and the major export to be Hamas-hating refugees. Any Hamas attack on Tel Aviv would result in a MASSIVE retaliation that would drive even more refugees out of Gaza. If weakened enough, Fatah will want to infiltrate and knock off even more of the Hamas infrastructure. So 20 years from now, with the Hamas leadership killed an Gaza in ruins with much of its population having fled, Israel and Egypt will start letting Fatah fighters over the border to finally take back control of Gaza. Having had 20 years to get their act together in the west bank, the Palestinians themselves should be able to do the work of restoring order and building a new society in Gaza. So in 25 years, Fatah may indeed be ready for that independent state.

If all out war occurs between Hamas and Fatah in Judea/Samaria, the results will almost certainly be similar to Gaza. Fatah will "roll over and die" as it did in Gaza, unless Israel stupidly continues to protect Fatah. It would be very advantageous for Israel to replace the hypocrite Fatah terrorists with the honest Hamas terrorists. Fatah poses a far greater danger to Israel than Hamas.

That being; failure of the PA to make a deal in the current negotiations.