U.S. and Israel Deny Plans to Drive Hamas From Power
By Steven R. Weisman
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 — American and Israeli officials warned again Tuesday that they would cut off aid and transfers of tax receipts to a Hamas-led Palestinian government if it did not renounce violence and recognize Israel. They said, however, that they had no plans to oust such a government.
"The bottom line is that there is no U.S.-Israeli plan, project, plot, conspiracy to destabilize or undermine a future Palestinian government," said Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman.
He spoke in response to an article in The New York Times on Tuesday in which American and Israeli officials and diplomats said they were discussing ways to destabilize the Palestinian government, with the intention of forcing new elections.
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The events of the past month and a half in Israel have left me rather confused. I have a general idea of what's going on and what's happened (at least in my twenty-five years of life), but past that, I'm learning right along with you. In general, I can't make myself believe that neither the government of Israel or the US has thought about an ouster. Maybe they don't have plans, but the idea of it all has to be floating around openly. Hamas is branded as a "terrorist" organization by some, and has my country, or at least its president, pledged to cleanse the world of terrorism? I don't think that the Arab/Israeli conflict is going to be going away...ever...so the more informed we are about what is happening, the better.
