Putin Invites Hamas - February 2006
Russian President Invites Hamas To Moscow
Russia to sell Palestinians arms if Israel agrees
By Oleg Shchedrov
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Friday Moscow would supply military hardware to the Palestinian Authority only if Israel agreed.
Plans to sell the Palestinian Authority 50 armored personnel carriers (APCs) were put on hold since last September.
But Russian Armed Forces chief-of-staff General Yuri Baluyevsky said on Thursday that the plan could be revived if a visit by leaders of the Islamist Hamas group to Moscow planned for early March went well.
"Supplies of military hardware to Palestine can only be carried out with Israel's consent and through its territory," Ivanov said in televised comments.
Last year the Palestinian Authority sought to buy Russian hardware, but no definite deal was reached. Diplomats said Russia had since shelved the idea after Middle East peace brokers told Moscow it could harm efforts to stabilize the area.
On Monday, Interfax news agency quoted a "well-informed source" in Moscow as saying that APCs sales were still on hold after Hamas won the January 25 Palestinian elections. But the source did not mention the helicopters, which are destined for use by the Palestinian presidency.
"It would be short-sighted to say the least to make decisions on supplying APCs to Palestine after the Hamas victory and amid the current situation in the Middle East," the source said. "We are taking a break on the issue for now."
Israel supported the Russian decision.
"We welcome the Russian statement that they are re-evaluating and they expect to continue any such future cooperation also in coordination with us," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.
Ivanov's remarks were clearly meant to downplay Baluyevsky's suggestions. "The consideration of the issue is at a preliminary stage," the defense minister said.
Russian officials have said the invitation to Hamas leaders was aimed at encouraging the group, branded a terrorist organization by the West, to stick to peace commitments made by the previous Palestinian administration.
They have said Moscow would convey to Hamas the demands of the quartet of Middle East mediators, which also includes the United States, European Union and the United Nations, to recognize Israel and stop armed attacks against Israelis.
"We are now in the process of agreeing delegations, which will take part in Moscow talks," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference.
But Russia's envoy in the Middle east was quoted as saying on Friday that Moscow would not press Hamas in any way.
"We are not going to demand anything at the meeting," Interfax quoted Alexander Kalugin as saying. "It's up to them to decide what answers the interests of the Palestinian people, what helps solve problems in Israeli-Palestinian relations."
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Russian Foreign Ministry: Hamas to visit in March
MOSCOW (AP) - Hamas leaders will travel to Moscow for high-level talks with Russian officials next month, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday, amid Kremlin efforts to cement a central role in Mideast diplomacy and Western wariness about dealing with the militant Palestinian group that won parliamentary elections last month.
Russian officials say they will press Hamas to recognize the state of Israel and to renounce violence. The other members of the so-called "quartet" leading Middle East peacemaking - the US, the EU and the United Nations - also are making those demands, but Washington and the EU have refused to meet with Hamas, unlike Russia.
President Vladimir Putin's invitation to Hamas, made at a news conference in Spain earlier this month, was the latest bid by Moscow to invigorate its role in Mideast peacemaking after years of taking a back seat to the United States. The invitation stunned Israel and other nations.
"We have reached an agreement in principle about the arrival in early March of a delegation of the Hamas leadership to Moscow," the Foreign Ministry said.
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Putin keeps national interest in mind with gamble over Hamas
By Neil Buckley
Vladimir Putin's invitation to Hamas leaders to talks in Moscow shows the same readiness to smash foreign policy taboos as his support, after the 2001 September 11 terror attacks, for US military bases in former Soviet central Asia. Yet the Russian president's gamble is much bigger this time.
Rather than just enraging his own hardline military advisers as in 2001, Mr Putin has vexed Russia's partners in the quartet of Middle East peace negotiators - the European Union, United Nations and, above all, the US. Israel has accused Moscow of betrayal. Only France is supportive.
Mr Putin is also being accused of double standards in reaching out to a militant Palestinian group with alleged links to Islamist rebels in Russia's breakaway Chechnya region. He risks embarrassment should his attempts to persuade Hamas to recognise Israel and renounce terrorism fall flat - and should any Moscow meeting be followed by new suicide bombings.
A big factor in Mr Putin's gamble was undoubtedly his campaign to restore Russia's image as a global power. Along with Moscow's role in trying to resolve the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme, it shows Russia's ambition once again to be a Middle East power-broker.
It also signals a challenge to US policy in the region, which Russia feels is failing badly. After the Russian leader called the Hamas victory in Palestinian elections a "very serious blow" to US peace efforts, his invitation to its leadership looks like an attempt to deepen Washington's discomfort.
But independent foreign policy analysts in Moscow insist careful calculation underlies Mr Putin's actions.
"The policy is 100 per cent pragmatism, based on Russia's national interest," says Yevgeny Satanovsky, head of the privately funded Institute of Middle Eastern Studies.
Several considerations shape the policy. The emigration of 1m Russian Jews to Israel - many maintaining dual citizenship - has forged strong cultural ties between the two countries.
But Russia is also home to the largest and fastest-growing Muslim minority of any European country. Radical Islam is stirring not just in Chechnya and the explosive north Caucasus, but further north-east in Russia's mainly Muslim internal republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan.
Then there is geographical proximity. Russia is at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Christianity and Islam. Iran, for example, is a short hop across the Caucasus mountains or Caspian Sea.
In terms of Iran, all this gives Russia every incentive to ensure the country does not gain nuclear weapons. "Iran is closer to Russia than Germany is to Britain," says Mr Satanovsky. "Southern Russian cities are in range of Iranian missiles." Yet Russia does not want to endanger a $2bn-a-year (£1.2bn) trading relationship, and is sceptical of the evidence for Iran's weapons ambitions. As Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, has stressed, it is anxious to avoid UN sanctions that could leave Tehran vengeful.
Rajab Safarov, general director of the Centre for the Study of Modern Iran, says sanctions would prompt Tehran to halt oil exports and pull out of international agreements, including the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The consequences could be disastrous. This explains Moscow's championing of a compromise offer to create a joint venture on Russian soil to produce all the enriched uranium Iran needs for a peaceful nuclear power programme.
Iran's announcement yesterday it would, after all, attend further talks in Moscow show the compromise is not yet dead. But time is short. "Russia wants to pull Iran out of this crisis," says Mr Safarov.
As for Hamas, whether it will take or bite Russia's similarly outstretched hand is unclear. But Moscow argues it is not only worth a try but that after pushing for free Palestinian elections, the US and its partners must now deal with what was a foreseeable outcome.
"If you accept the legitimacy of the election, why don't you accept the legitimacy of the result?" says Irina Zvyagelskaya, a Middle East expert at the International Centre for Strategic and Political Studies.
Hamas, she adds, is not only a terror group but provides healthcare to Palestinians. Russia's calculation is Hamas will need to justify voters' confidence by showing it can make their voice heard internationally, requiring it to renounce violence.
Since Russia never designated Hamas a terrorist organisation it does not face the same legal restrictions as the EU and US on at least meeting it to press home the international community's conditions. "A meeting will show what we can hope for," says Ms Zvyagelskaya. "Or if there is hope at all."
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Russia: engaging Hamas realistic for Mideast peace
By Mark Heinrich
VIENNA (Reuters) - Russia's invitation to Hamas to talks, which has dismayed Israel, is a realistic way to foster future peacemaking after the Islamic militants won Palestinian elections, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.
Moscow's move has upset both the Jewish state and the United States by challenging their campaign to isolate Hamas, classified as a terrorist group in the West, until it renounces violence and recognises Israel's right to exist.
The Russian initiative seemed to open a crack in the Quartet of Middle East mediators -- including the United Nations, EU and Washington. But Lavrov said Moscow agreed Hamas must commit to seeking peace with Israel to win international acceptance.
"We will work toward Hamas accepting the Quartet's positions. This is not just the Quartet's opinion but also that of the majority of nations, including Arab nations," he said after talks with EU leaders in Vienna.
"But this will take time. It is not easy. Unless we engage Hamas, which gained power as result of legitimate, free and fair elections, nothing will change," he said.
"This situation in the Middle East is too serious to be lenient (about conditions for dealing with Hamas). Russia does want the approaches of the Quartet to be implemented," he said.
"My point is that responsible people should approach this situation from the point of view of wanting something to be done in order not to endanger the future of the peace process."
Russian and Hamas officials said on Saturday that the talks might be held in Moscow before the end of February.
Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik of Austria, the current EU president, said "there is no reason to doubt" Russia would abide by Quartet policy -- a Palestinian state on Israeli-occupied land co-existing with the Jewish state -- in dealing with Hamas.
ISRAELI DISMAY
Israel initially condemned Moscow's overture to Hamas after the Islamists romped to victory in the Jan. 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections, boosted by a backlash over corruption and chaos within the dominant Fatah party.
But Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was low key about the move earlier this week, saying that while he felt the Russian move was "mistaken", Moscow had assured Israel it would demand Hamas "recognise Israel and give up terror".
Hamas has rejected such conditions, saying it had a legitimate right to "resist occupation". But Hamas has also mooted the possibility of a long-term ceasefire if Israel withdraws from all territories it captured in a 1967 war.
Israel pulled settlers and soldiers out of Gaza last year but vows not to give up much larger Jewish settlements in the West Bank or to relinquish Arab East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want for the capital of a future state.
Hamas, poised to form the next self-ruling Palestinian Authority government, has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in Israel since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000. But it has generally adhered to a ceasefire for more than a year.
Russia does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist group but it classifies Chechens fighting to break way from Russia as "mercenaries funded by international terrorism".
Irked by Russia's opening to Hamas, Israel has told its diplomats to play up alleged ties between Palestinian militants and Chechen separatists, Israeli political sources say.
Olmert has threatened to cut off a monthly transfer to the Palestinian Authority of tax revenues Israel collects on its behalf if Hamas comes to power, and to take unilateral moves to set the Jewish state's borders if peacemaking remained frozen.
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A Disturbing Invitation
Op-Ed
By Richard Cohen
In 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia with what was known as the Grande Armee. The French captured Moscow before the harsh winter and a stubborn Russian resistance forced them to turn back, leaving behind only the inspiration for a bombastic Tchaikovsky overture and the seeds of an irrational foreign policy. Now both nations -- France and Russia -- agree on Hamas.
Their stance is foreboding. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was considering inviting the leaders of Hamas to Moscow for talks, and almost immediately, and predictably, the French pronounced this a wonderful idea. Putin, I think, would not have been quite so quick to extend a welcome to the Chechen rebels he considers to be terrorists, but the murderers of Jews are apparently a different matter. This, after all, is a long Russian tradition.
The French, too, have their traditions. One of them -- in fact their sole animating foreign policy objective -- is to make life difficult for the United States. This has been the case since Charles de Gaulle, a man of fixed fixations who resented the fact that France was no longer a great power, just a cuisine or, in some years, a good runway show. It is not surprising that France supported this Russian initiative, although it will itself refrain from such a meeting. Still, you can see which way the French are going.
It is not easy to say what to do with Hamas. It is -- no doubt about it -- a terrorist organization. Yet it won the recent Palestinian elections -- and did so going away. It has vast support in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and in some ways represents an improvement over Fatah, the organization of the late and hardly lamented Yasser Arafat. His collection of kleptomaniacs and thugs was mightily resented by the average Palestinian, who now at least has leaders avowedly dedicated to honest government -- and, of course, the utter destruction of Israel.
Whatever Hamas's virtues might be, its vices are far, far worse. Just to give you one example: On June 1, 2001, a Hamas suicide bomber killed 21 people and wounded 120 others in an attack on a Tel Aviv discotheque. This was a typical Hamas operation, directed at civilians and involving the use of a suicide bomber, often some addled youth seeking a good time in paradise.
What's more, Hamas is no mere (or understandably) anti-Israel or anti-Zionist organization. It is also deeply, indelibly and quite openly anti-Semitic. Its covenant, adopted Aug. 18, 1988, does not limit itself to the goal of annihilating Israel, but throws in "killing the Jews" for good measure. It mentions Jews over and over again and even cites that notorious anti-Semitic forgery, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," as proof of what the vile Hebrews are up to. This includes, and I am not making this up, "control of the world media, news agencies, the press" and responsibility for "the French revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about."
One thing you might not have heard about: "They [Jews] were behind World War I" and, for good measure, "World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state." This is 100 percent, non-alloyed, near-perfect and totally bananas anti-Semitism -- not the work of rational minds.
It is, though, the work of the very people whom Putin (with French support) would meet with. He would do so, apparently, without one word being changed in this repellent covenant -- or without Hamas's renouncing its intention to obliterate Israel. Russia and, in a way, France would overlook this salty language because, as we are so often told, they are realists and we Americans -- chuckle, chuckle -- are dreamers. In the real world, you have to talk to your enemies.
But in the real world, Putin ought to bear in mind the example he is setting. If he can talk with Hamas, why can't others talk to the Chechens? He himself takes umbrage whenever anyone meets with Chechen political leaders -- not, mind you, terrorists -- because he makes no distinction between the two. But when it comes to Hamas, Putin is willing to embrace it all -- political wing, terrorist wing: It makes no difference to him. At least until he shows differently, the only distinction he makes is between the killers of innocent Russians and the killers of innocent Israelis.
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What Does Moscow Want With Hamas? A New Direction for Peace in the Middle East
By Marianna Belenkaya
President Vladimir Putin’s plans to invite the leaders of Hamas to Moscow have divided world opinion. Some think that talks with the winners of the recent Palestinian elections will make it possible to draw the movement into the political process and eventually make it less radical, while others think that inviting the Hamas leadership to Moscow is the first step towards legitimizing terrorism.
Russia is the only nation actively involved in mediating peace in the Middle East to openly state its readiness for high-level dialogue with Hamas, and this turn of events has caused many nations to question where Russia’s loyalty lies.
Russia’s position seemed to strike a blow at Israel, the United States and the EU, – which have all considered Russia an ally in the fight against terrorism and whose leaders have declared Hamas a terrorist organization. Israel, which has always had doubts about Russia’s commitment to the war on terror, is particularly outraged at Putin’s invitation to Hamas. Many in the Arab world, in contrast, saw Putin’s invitation as a challenge to the United States and a swipe at Israel’s long-standing policy against the group.
However, Putin’s invitation should not be seen as inconsistent with Russia’s previous actions. Russia has two motivations for entering into talks with Hamas. First, Moscow wants to show that it is still an influential player in the Middle East and on the international stage in general. The very fact that Hamas emerged victorious in the Palestinian election represents a miscalculation in the United States’ “Greater Middle East” policy, which has focused on trying to democratize the region extending from North Africa to Central Asia. When Washington first began talking about this project a few years ago, it thought that democracy could become an alternative to radical Islam. But the radical Islamists proved to be the best students of the American system, and instead used democracy to come to power. This situation is clearest in the territories controlled by the Palestinian National Authority. It is also visible in Iraq and Egypt. Add to this the complex security situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, the tension with Iran and Syria and the “caricature affair” that has gripped the world, it seems clear that the West, and above all the United States, is in a very difficult position at the moment, and Russia is simply making use of the opportunity that has opened up.
The second reason for Russia to establish contact with Hamas is security. Russia has recently been taking calculated steps toward to the Islamic world, including obtaining observer status in the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Russia realizes that a “conflict of civilizations” would undermine stability – above all within its own borders. Russia has personal interests in mediating between East and West, and for now, that involves negotiating with Hamas.
Furthermore, contacts with Hamas are inevitable if the international mediators are serious about continuing the Middle East peace process. Hamas is the legitimate winner of the Palestinian elections as well as the only real force in the Palestinian territories. It will never accept any agreement reached without its participation. Dialogue is essential, and international mediators cannot but be aware of this fact. This explains why the French Foreign Ministry, for example, has approved Putin’s initiative. Washington also did not react completely negatively, saying simply that it is waiting for explanations from Russia and hopes that Moscow’s contacts with Hamas will take place within the framework of the agreements reached at the end of January 2005.
At that meeting, representatives from the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations said that they were willing to continue providing assistance, both political and financial, to the Palestinians so long as the new Palestinian government met ‘international standards.’ This means renouncing terrorism, recognizing the state of Israel and observing all previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements, including the “road map” for a peace settlement.
Unfortunately, the United States and Russia have fundamentally different views on when these international standards must be met. Washington wants Hamas to first change its policy before there can be any dialogue, while Moscow thinks that only dialogue will bring about a change in policy. Currently, the European Union seems to be moving closer to Russia’s view.
Whatever the situation, Russia is not backing down from these standards. According to Alexander Kalugin, Russia’s special representative for the Middle East peace settlement, Russia’s objective at the upcoming talks is to persuade Hamas to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Kalugin said that if the meeting in Moscow goes ahead, it will be on the basis of the stated platform of respect and observance of all the Palestinian-Israeli agreements.
Russian diplomats realize that Hamas won’t make a complete turnaround in policy overnight. Hamas is known in the Arab world for sticking to its principles. Khaled Mashaal, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, said that the organization remains a resistance movement and this suggests there is little hope for concessions on the organization’s part, especially under outside pressure. Hamas would need very serious reasons to change its policies, reasons that would justify it in the eyes of the public. This looks unrealistic at the moment given that the United States and Israel do not intend to make concessions either.
In addition, there are not many concessions left to be made. Hamas has always set as a condition for a ceasefire Israel’s full withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders and the recognition of the Palestinian refugees’ right to return. Israel sees these as impossible conditions. If these conditions for ceasefire cannot be met, it seems unlikely that any conditions for permanent peace could be achieved.
It seems very doubtful that the arrival of Hamas leaders in Moscow will lead to any breakthrough in the peace process. The alternative, however – ignoring Hamas as the legitimate representative of the Palestinians – seems certain to doom the peace process to failure. Despite the perspective of other involved parties, Putin’s initiative does not represent a break from the status quo, but rather a continuation.
Marianna Belenkaya is a political correspondent for RIA Novosti currently working in Beirut, Lebanon. She contributed this comment to Russia Profile.
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Israel uses Hamas-Chechen link
By Herb Keinon
Government officials are circulating a document showing Hamas's links to Chechen terrorists in an attempt to influence Russian public opinion against President Vladimir Putin's overtures to Hamas.
The pamphlet, put out by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies, an information project sponsored by an NGO set up in memory of fallen members of the Israeli intelligence community, opens by stating that "Hamas support for the Chechen separatists and their terrorist tactics did not prevent it from immediately accepting" Putin's recent invitation to visit Moscow.
According to the document, Hamas "is completely hostile to the Russian regime in that it identifies with the Chechen separatists, regarding them as part of the global jihad, and supports them in their terrorist activities."
A government official said that the document was being circulated so that people "understand the real nature of Hamas - that Hamas has supported terrorism in other part of the world, and has supported a radical jihad agenda, not only against Israel, but also around the globe, specifically in Russia."
"We think that it would be a good thing if Russian citizens became aware of that," he said.
To support the claim of a Hamas-Chechen link, the document states that posters, CDs and movies supporting the Chechen terrorists have been found in Hamas offices. According to the document, Hamas has "even allowed the Chechen terrorists to use its Internet site, www.Palestine-info.net, to provide its suicide bombing attacks with religious Islamic sanction."
According to the pamphlet, "Hamas customarily distributes its anti-Russian incitement CDs (full of hate propaganda and incitement to acts of terrorism) in educational institutions in the PA-administered territories as part of the battle for the hearts and minds of the younger Palestinian generation."
The document said that the CDs, entitled "The Russian Hell," were distributed in 2003 and 2004 to the American University in Jenin, the Hebron University and the Hebron Orphan Asylum.
According to the document, Hamas has expressed admiration for Chechen terrorists in its posters and videos, while the Russian army "is blasted and its actions are referred to as 'terrorist activities against the Islamic population in Chechnya.'"
One poster pictured in the document shows a picture of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin next to those of Ibn al-Khattab, a Chechen leader killed in 2002, Osama bin Laden and Shamil Basayev, a Chechen warlord who claimed responsibility for the Beslan school massacre in September 2004.
Underneath the pictures are the words "Chechnya, Afghanistan, the Balkans, Kashmir, Palestine and Lebanon," as well as a quote attributed to a companion of Muhammad who said Islam would "continue to exist in those regions of the world where Muslims are a minority living in a hostile environment."
Russian officials traditionally bristle at attempts to compare Hamas with the Chechen terrorists, saying that while the international community recognizes Chechnya as an integral part of Russia, the world has never recognized the West Bank as part of Israel.
Rice: Putin will insist Hamas recognizes Israel
(JPost.com) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday morning that Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to demand that Hamas recognize the State of Israel.
Last week, Russia was the first of the Quartet to break with the cold shoulder given to the Hamas, when Putin invited the group's leaders to meet with him in Moscow.
In a CBS interview, Rice noted that unlike the Russian stance, both the United States and the European Union see Hamas as a terrorist organization. She insisted that view would not change before Hamas does.
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Israel Urges World to Reject Hamas
By Ravi Nessman
(AP) - Israel's foreign minister on Sunday criticized Russia's invitation for Hamas leaders to visit Moscow for talks, urging the international community to stand firm in rejecting the militant group despite its victory in Palestinian elections.
But Israeli officials said they did not plan a harsh response to the invitation, preferring instead to work to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to maintain international pressure on Hamas.
The invitation last week was Russia's latest effort to assert itself in Mideast peacemaking. It runs counter to the stand recently taken by the so-called Quartet of Mideast peace negotiators, comprising Russia, the U.S., the European Union and the U.N. The Quartet, which backs the "road map" peace plan, insisted it would not deal with a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, and threatened to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in desperately needed aid to the cash-strapped government unless the group recognized Israel and renounced violence.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to make it clear that Hamas must stop terror attacks. But France said it hoped Russia could help lead Hamas to accept a two-state solution.
Hamas has carried out scores of deadly attacks against Israelis in recent years, calling for the destruction of the Jewish state and its replacement with an Islamic nation. It is listed as a terror organization by the European Union and the United States.
Hamas leaders said they plan to travel to Moscow later this month.
"We are going to present our positions ... about the political developments and issues related to the rights of our people," Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said on Saturday.
Israel's acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said Israel would not deal with the incoming Palestinian government, even if Hamas stacks it with professionals with no connection to the group.
"The moment the Palestinian parliament is sworn in, the Palestinian Authority becomes a Hamas Authority," Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday, according to a participant in the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it.
The parliament is to be sworn in Thursday, and Hamas expects to form a new Cabinet in coming weeks.
Russia's envoy to the Palestinians, Alexey Pogodin, met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday and told reporters that Moscow would urge Hamas to moderate its stance.
The invitation has infuriated Israelis.
"The Russian position is currently not accepted in the international community," Acting Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Israel Radio on Sunday. "Part of the danger is going down the slippery slope of first talking, then starting to understand why, then supporting with money, then granting legitimacy."
Hamas, while adhering to its violent ideology, has voiced willingness to agree to a long-term truce if Israel reciprocates. Hamas has largely honored a year-old cease-fire.
Livni cautioned against reading too much into the group's promises.
"There is no negotiation here with Hamas about what it will and will not agree to," she said.
Cabinet Minister Tzahi Hanegbi said Israel would try to persuade Putin that breaking with the major Western nations on Hamas "will diminish the efforts to make sure that Palestinians will not adopt the values and behavior of a terrorist organization."
But Russia's invitation would not cause a diplomatic breach with Israel, he said.
"We believe in dialogue, we believe in trying to convince, and we are not going to take any harsh measures," he said.
In the northern West Bank village of Nebe Elias, Hebrew graffiti scrawled on a mosque that equated the Prophet Muhammad with a pig led to a protest and clashes with Israeli troops that left three Palestinians and an Israeli woman injured.
Also Sunday, Israel reopened the vital Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel, the military said. The crossing, used by Palestinian workers to reach jobs in Israel, was closed after armed Palestinians attacked it on Thursday.
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Marginalize Putin
Editorial
Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to meet with Hamas threw a monkey wrench into the Quartet's thus far united front against any dealings with a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, barring recognition of Israel's right to exist, a pledge of nonviolence and acceptance of all previous PA undertakings.
Putin not only declared that he would invite Hamas leaders to Moscow, but insisted that Hamas isn't a terrorist organization, again in incontrovertible contradiction to the position of the Quartet (the US, Russia, the EU and the UN).
Putin, who argued that he would seek to prevail on Hamas representatives to accept Israel, is no novice. He knows that rather than soften Hamas, his readiness to enter a substantive dialogue with its leaders greatly reduces the pressure to embark on the transformation that the international community has been demanding. Putin has recklessly made an already very bad situation significantly worse by cozying up to some of the worst villains in the global terrorist conflict, in which Russia itself has sustained agonizing blows.
Conventional wisdom ascribes Putin's obstructionism to aspirations to continue playing the role of a superpower even after the demise of the Soviet Union, and promote a foreign policy not only independent of Washington but even opposed to it.
Hamas terrorists aren't Putin's only odious bedfellows. His regime has been a major accomplice in the Iranian nuclear and missile programs. Russia continues to transfer sophisticated technology to Iran, despite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's genocidal threats against Israel and his open denial of the Holocaust.
There is every reason for someone like Putin, who seeks to be counted as a bona fide member of the club of democratic statesmen, to avoid the company of the Axis of Evil's most unsavory mainstay. Yet he both fraternizes with Teheran and stymies America's attempts to refer Iran to the UN Security Council and impose meaningful sanctions upon it.
In similar vein, a year ago Putin announced plans to sell Syria shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weaponry - this despite the fact that Syria remains top of the short list of rogue states sponsoring terrorism.
Throwing matches willfully into the Mideast's tinderbox, Putin's Russia presents itself as the unscrupulous spin-off of its Soviet antecedent. It seems as bent on spreading its influence in the Arab world as was the defunct USSR and, appallingly, with some of the same disregard for Israel's most basic existential concerns.
Israel has been loath to admit this. It has wanted to treat post-communist Moscow as a newfound friend. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was even said to have a particular rapport with Putin, who made a warmly received state visit here last year.
The Quartet, accepted by Israel as the international overseer of regional peace efforts, is being subverted from within. Israel needs to find the means to impress upon Moscow the seriousness of this action, and to insist that the Quartet's other members do likewise.
There is a range of diplomatic tools for Israel to consider - including, but not limited to, the recalling of our ambassador to Moscow for consultations, demanding the withdrawal of the Russian advisers who entered the Gaza Strip over Israeli objections and insisting on a full accounting of the Russian weaponry sent to the PA.
Whichever path Israel chooses, what is crucial is that Jerusalem make plain where its vital interests lie and its inability to work with international powers that knowingly subvert those interests by empowering Hamas.
Concomitantly, Putin's dangerous strategies must caution Washington against over-reliance on the Security Council to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions. With Russian impediments to this track, and Chinese as well, attention must urgently be devoted by the Bush administration to the need for a fallback "coalition of the willing" that can face up to the Iranian challenge.
The Security Council is supposed to provide the means for collective self-defense in the face of international aggressors like Iran. The Quartet is supposed to provide a responsible international framework to encourage a cessation of Palestinian terrorism and a return to the peace table.
Putin's Russia is becoming an ever-greater obstacle to both those goals. Far from carving out a new diplomatic role for itself, it must be marginalized as long as it pursues reckless and dangerous policies.
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Russian policies anti-US, not anti-Israel
By Herb Keinon
The reflexive reaction of many Israelis to Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to break ranks with the West and invite Hamas to Moscow was that the Russians, being Russian, were reverting to the old Soviet anti-Israel, if not anti-Semitic, patterns.
What other than anti-Semitism could explain the hypocritical difference Moscow made between Chechen attacks on Russian citizens, which the Kremlin calls terrorism, and Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, which Putin now seemed hell-bent on whitewashing?
But Putin is not Leonid Brezhnev, most Israeli officials who deal with Moscow will tell you. He is neither anti-Israel nor anti-Semitic.
He is, however, keen on seeing US failure, and he does want to reassert Russia's position as a superpower.
Putin's invitation to Hamas Thursday didn't come out of the blue. A week earlier at a mammoth press conference in the Kremlin, he made it clear that Moscow did not view Hamas the same way the US and Europe did.
His answer to a question about Hamas was extremely telling. Hamas's victory, he said, "is a big setback, an important setback for American efforts in the Middle East. A very serious setback."
And an American setback in the Middle East is good for Russia; it provides Russia with an opportunity.
Putin's invitation to Hamas was not a jab at Israel, although we will definitely feel the sting, as much as it was a swipe at US regional policies. Putin has identified a place where Russia can play a key position. If everyone else is boycotting Hamas and Russia talks with it, then Russia has just won itself a starring role.
Listen to what Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said at the press conference with Putin at which he extended the invitation.
Regarding the Middle East, Zapatero said, "We need to bolster the role of Moscow and President Putin in order to inject this peace process with new strength."
Listen also to Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, who was quoted by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti as saying on Al-Jezeera Friday that "the failure of US policies in the region has left a vacuum and this vacuum should be filled by other states. We believe that Russia can do this. We know the Palestinian issue is the key to all other problems of the Middle East. By taking the initiative on the Palestinian issue, Russia will win in the entire Middle Eastern region."
This is exactly what Putin wants: recognition of Russia's role as a key player in the Middle East, not just a US side-kick that blindly follows Washington's positions.
Putin is constantly looking for niches for Russia to squeeze in and prove that it is just as big on the world's stage as the US and Europe. Its sale of state-of-the-art anti-aircraft missiles to Syria last year, over both Israeli and US objections, was a similar attempt to find such a niche.
This was a way to increase Russia's influence in the Arab world in a way Moscow well knows how - through arms sales - and also a way to send a message to the world that it will not accept dictates from the US.
Russia also tried a similar exercise recently regarding the Iranian nuclear issue. After US and European efforts to strike some kind of deal with the Iranians failed, the Russians stepped in with the idea of enriching the Iranian uranium on Russian soil to provide some kind of safeguard against it being used for nuclear weapons.
It was an attempt by the Russians to come in at the end of a failed process and "save the day," acting like the superpower Moscow once was. Never mind that the effort failed, it was still indicative of the new Russian approach: look for US failures and try to exploit them.
The recent exercise with Hamas is the latest example of this pattern. Israel suffers the consequence of this policy, but is not necessarily the target.
Small consolation, but still a significant difference from the days of the Soviets.
Envoy Says Moscow Expects Balanced Attitude of Hamas
MOSCOW (Itar-Tass) -- A Hamas delegation may visit Moscow in the middle or at the end of February, but no precise day has been named yet, Russian Foreign Ministry special representative for the Mideast settlement, Ambassador Alexander Kalugin told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
"We have not discussed specific dates of the visit with Hamas. A political decision about the visit is what matters," he said.
"The Moscow negotiations will focus on further development of the peace process," he said. "They already know what they should do. This is no secret. We already said that we want a balanced and conscientious attitude, which would promote the establishment of the Palestinian states. We shall see how the contacts would go. It is hard to make any forecasts so far."
"Naturally, Russia will inform its partners in the international mediating quartet (the European Union, the United States and the United Nations) and all interested sides, including Israel, about results of its contacts with the Hamas movement. We are not going to hold the negotiations in a secret room and keep silent about the outcome," Kalugin said. "Everyone will be informed about negotiations and our achievements and failures."
The Russian Foreign Ministry has been authorized to hold the negotiations, he said.
Kalugin told Itar-Tass earlier that Russia would call on Hamas to take "a realistic position" in the relations with Israel. "That will be the first political contact with Hamas. We will hear the opinion of our interlocutors, and inform them of the approaches formulated at the London meeting of the international mediating quartet," he said.
President Vladimir Putin announced the intention to invite Hamas representatives to Moscow in Madrid on February 9. "We will soon invite Hamas leaders to consultations in Moscow," he told a press conference on results of the Russian-Spanish summit. "We keep contacts, and the invitation will be made in the near future."
"We should recognize that Hamas took the office as a result of democratic elections. We should seek mutually acceptable solutions for Palestinians, Israelis and the international community at large," Putin said.
Hamas leaders said they would accept the offer "and visit Moscow as soon as they receive the official invitation." "We are going to present our political position and discuss rights of our people at the Moscow negotiations," said Hamas spokesman Abu Zahri.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had telephone conversations with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and EU Council Secretary General Javier Solana on Saturday.
"It is necessary to start without delay the dialog with Hamas, which is an influential force in the Palestinian society," Lavrov said.
He lauded efforts of Mideast countries, "primarily Egypt, which is keeping contacts with Hamas representatives." "Representatives of the movement made inspiring statements at these contacts. We should bear that in mind," Lavrov said.
Putin told the Madrid press conference that Russia did not put Hamas on the list of terrorist organizations because it prefers to interact with all political forces. "It would be the easiest but not the most efficient to burn bridges in politics. That is why we do not hurry to proclaim certain organizations as terrorist, but try to interact with everyone in that explosive region," he said.
Putin rejected claims that Russia is allegedly dodging responsibility and has reduced its participation in the Mideast settlement. Efforts of the Russian Foreign Ministry are very intensive, he said.
Hamas gained 74 mandates in the 132-strong Palestinian parliament in the January 25 elections. Some 440,000 of 1.4 million Palestinian voters supported the movement.
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CBS/U.S. State Department - 02.12.2006
Interview With Bob Schieffer of CBS's Face the Nation
[excerpt]
MR. SCHIEFFER: Let me ask you this, Madame Secretary, and it has to do with Mr. Putin of Russia. When you moved this to the United Nations, it's my understanding that you slowed down the UN taking any action on it for a month or so at the request of the Russians. More and more, we see Putin taking positions that are different than those of the United States. On Hamas, when they took over and won the parliamentary elections, in Israel. Mr. Putin says he's going to invite them to come to Moscow. Israel says that's a stab in the back because everybody and the others in the West are saying, you know, we're not going to give them any aid until they announce that Israel has a right to exist and so on and so on.
What's going on with President Putin of Russia? Are you satisfied with the way he's handling things these days?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, let me make a general point. In general, I think we have very good relations with Russia. Probably the best relations that have been there for quite some time. We cooperate in the war on terror. We cooperate in a number of areas. Obviously we have some differences, too.
But on the Iranian situation, we've actually had very good cooperation with the Russians. Sometimes in order to have everybody come on board, you have to give a little and they have to give a little. They did not think that it was quite time to go to the Security Council because they wanted to have time to explore their proposal. They wanted to have time to get further reports from the IAEA. We said it has to be in the Security Council now but we will wait until there's another final report from the IAEA and until you've fully explored your proposals with the Iranians. That has given us unity on the Iran cause.
On Hamas, yes, the Russians make the point that they, unlike us, have not listed Hamas as a terrorist organization. Let me be very clear. Hamas is a terrorist organization for us and for the European Union. But Russia is signed on to a Quartet statement, the Quartet being the UN, the United States, the EU and Russia, that is the sort of guardian of the roadmap process in the Middle East; that the Quartet has signed on to the statement that says a Palestinian government must recognize Israel's right to exist, must give up violence, must accept the two-state solution and so on.
The Russians assure us, after President Putin's comments, that anything that they say to Hamas will simply be to reinforce that message.
MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, Israel says it's a stab in the back, as I just said. Do you think that somehow Russia is trying to reestablish itself and try to regain the position that it once held in the Middle East? Because it doesn't have much of a say in what goes on there anymore and there was a time when it did. Is that what this is all a part of?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, the Russians have decided on their own course that perhaps it would be helpful for them to have contacts with Hamas because they don't recognize it as a terrorist organization. What we're concentrating on is making certain that the message to Hamas is a consistent one, and that message simply has to be that the right to Israel exist cannot be in question -- the right of Israel to exist cannot be in question. How can you have a peace process, how can you have a two-state solution, if you believe in violence and if you don't recognize the right of one of the parties to exist?
MS. BUMILLER: Dr. Rice, did President Bush misjudge Mr. Putin when he said that he had looked into his eyes and seen his soul? I mean, he has been -- there has been a lot of troublesome behavior and developments since then from Russia.
SECRETARY RICE: On the Russians, we certainly have had our differences. We've certainly had our commonalities as well. I think the President retains a very good relationship with President Putin. Obviously we are very concerned particularly about some of the elements of democratization in Russia that seem to be going in the wrong direction. This is not the Soviet Union; let's not overstate the case. I was a Soviet specialist. I can tell you that Russia bears almost no resemblance to the Soviet Union.
But clearly the law on nongovernmental organizations is a problem. Clearly the use of energy in the way that it was used concerning Ukraine is a problem. And Russia is about to – it is now the president of the G-8 process. We would hope for behavior that is befitting of the president of the G-8 process.
MR. SCHIEFFER: Well -- and this will be the last question, but let me just ask you this because there are a lot of people saying they have no business being the host of the G-8 summit, as you are well aware. Do you, at this point, think that Mr. Putin shares the values of the other members of the G-8?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I do believe that Vladimir Putin is a Russian patriot who believes in a more open Russia than certainly the one that was the center of the Soviet Union, and we see that. I think the question is open as to where Russia's future development is going, but I don't see that there is anything positive to be gained by the isolation of Russia from institutions where those values are demanded of its members, from institutions where those values are practiced by those members.
And so we have a choice: We can say, all right, it's all gone bad in Russia and therefore we're just going to go back to the old days and isolate them from these institutions like the NATO-Russia Council or the G-8; or we can continue to say to the Russians, yes, we want you in these institutions but we expect behavior that is consistent with the values of those institutions and indeed challenge not just Vladimir Putin but Russia as a whole, Russia is a polity, the Russian people, to fully integrate those values into their future.
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Jewish Telegraphic Agency - 02.13.2006
Analysts: Russian invite to Hamas may undercut Israel and ‘road map’
By Leslie Susser
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Russia’s readiness to hold talks with Hamas following the terrorist group’s victory in Palestinian parliamentary election has surprised and angered decision-makers in Israel. But how damaging is the Russian move likely to be?
Israeli leaders worry that Russia’s overture to Hamas might become a precedent and that, if others follow suit, Israel’s attempt to force a Hamas-led government to moderate its anti-Israel positions or face international isolation will fail.
More than diplomatic isolation, however, it’s the loss of economic aid that Hamas fears, and this comes not from Russia but mainly from the European Union and United States. If they withhold the $1.5 billion they transfer to the Palestinians every year, some hope it could impel Hamas to accept Israel’s three conditions for dialogue: Recognition of the Jewish state’s right to exist, renunciation of terrorism and acceptance of previous agreements the Palestinians have signed with Israel.
Israel’s strategy is to show Hamas leaders and Palestinians in general that a radical government will not serve their interests. Through a combination of diplomatic and economic pressure, the aim is to force Hamas to adopt a more pragmatic line or face such intense popular discontent on the Palestinian side that P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas might be forced to declare new elections, in which Hamas could be ousted.
For the policy to work, however, Israel needs broad international support, which the Russian move threatens to erode.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was assigned to get the United States on board. In talks in Washington last week with American leaders, including an unscheduled meeting with President Bush, Livni secured an American commitment not to talk to Hamas unless it accepted the Israeli conditions for dialogue.
Dov Weissglas and Shalom Turgeman, aides to Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, focused on Europe, urging Javier Solana, the European Union’s external affairs minister, not to transfer any of the E.U.’s massive aid package to a Hamas-led government — either directly, through development projects or through UNRWA, the United Nations agency that supports Palestinian refugees.
For now, the Europeans are listening — but what will happen if withholding aid money leads to intense suffering on the Palestinian side? And, Solana asked, was there not a danger that if Europe withheld funds, radical countries like Iran could step in to fill the vacuum?
Weissglas assured Solana that Iran could not contribute anything remotely approaching the sums the Palestinians receive from Europe, and that withholding aid might force the Palestinians to be more pragmatic.
Nevertheless, most Israeli pundits are skeptical and do not believe Europe will persist in denying funds to the Palestinians. Writing soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement that he intended to invite Hamas leaders to Moscow, Ma’ariv editor Amnon Dankner forecast the imminent collapse of international support for the Israeli position.
“It seems that the next step is already written on the wall: Hamas will mumble something vague and deliberately misleading out of the side of its mouth in order to enable the international community to establish ties, open a dialogue and urge Israel to sit down and negotiate,” Dankner wrote.
Israeli politicians were highly critical of the Russian move, seeing it as a cynical attempt to regain center stage in Middle Eastern affairs, regardless of the diplomatic or security costs to Israel. Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit described it as “a knife in the back.”
Israeli pundits echoed the anger.
“Putin has identified a rare and great opportunity to again become the central and chief player in the Middle East, the only one who can deliver and mediate between the parties. But he ignores the fact that he is playing a dirty game, and that the goal he scored was after the referee had already whistled for half-time,” Ma’ariv political analyst Ben Caspit commented.
Though the Russians claimed they merely want to impress on Hamas the need to meet Israel’s conditions for dialogue, the pundits were not convinced. They argued that Russia would be conferring legitimacy on Hamas without the terrorist group having to change an ideology that calls for Israel’s destruction.
Ha’aretz military analyst Ze’ev Schiff predicted that the Russian move would boomerang: Instead of becoming the only party in a position to mediate, he wrote, Russia no longer would be able to play the role of honest broker in peace talks.
Moreover, Schiff said, the Russian gambit endangered the internationally backed “road map” peace plan. If France — which gave mixed signals that it might follow Russia’s lead — indeed did so, “that will be the end of the road map,” Schiff warned.
Some saw a return to days when the Soviet Union served as the Arabs’ main foreign backer. Writing in Yediot Achronot, analyst Sever Plotzker warned that Russia would reap scant rewards.
“Has Russia learned nothing from the Soviet Union’s support for Palestinian terror in the past?” he asked. “Its Middle Eastern policy was rife with errors, failures and strange alliances that led to Moscow being banished from every corner of the Middle East.”
The experts agree that there is not a lot Israel can do about the Russian move, besides shoring up support in Europe and the United States. Israel’s responses are limited when dealing with a major power like Russia, they say.
Avi Primor, head of European Studies at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, told Israel Radio that “relations with Russia are far too important to create a crisis over this.”
Primor, who served as Israeli ambassador to the European Union, believes the European embargo on aid to the Palestinians could hold. Moreover, he claims that Israel has powerful economic leverage of its own.
“Hamas was elected to improve the Palestinian standard of living,” he notes. “They can’t do that without our help.”
Still, the big question remains: Will the Russian move set off a domino process that leaves Israel’s anti-Hamas policy in ruins?
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No point in talking to Hamas until it recognizes Israel - Rabbi Lazar
Moscow, February 11, Interfax - Moscow holding negotiations with HAMAS makes no sense until the organization disarms and recognizes the state of Israel, Russia's Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar said.
"The Middle East 'quartet' has articulated clear guidelines for HAMAS' participation in the Middle East settlement negotiations: give up violence and terror, recognize Israel's right to existence and security and disband illegal armed groups. Until these conditions are fulfilled, there is no point in negotiations. They will not bring peace to the Middle East," Lazar said in comments on Russians' initiative to invite HAMAS leaders for talks to Moscow.
"I understand well the Jews from all around the world whose relatives were killed by HAMAS militants. Unfortunately, I understand their reaction to Russia's idea to welcome HAMAS leaders in Moscow," he told Interfax in an interview.
Lazar stated that HAMAS has routinely assumed responsibility for the majority of terrorist attacks committed against Jews, peaceful people, women and children.
"Russia has until now resolutely condemned HAMAS terror and any other terror. And such a position has elicited a positive response from all civilized countries," Lazar said.
"It is very convenient for HAMAS to be 'moderate' outside the Middle East and at the same time proceed with terror against Jews. Leaders of the organization have been stating for a long time their readiness to negotiate with any country, but not with Israel, which they aspire to wipe off the face of the Earth," he said.
Earlier on Friday, Holocaust foundation president Alla Gerber severely criticized the idea of inviting HAMAS leaders to Moscow for negotiations.
"Moscow's statement that HAMAS is not a terrorist organization and that we will receive them honorably in the Kremlin is no less frightening than publishing Holocaust cartoons," she said at a press conference in Moscow.
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Putin Considers Inviting Hamas Leaders to Moscow
[excerpt]
By Renwick McLean and Greg Myre
MADRID — Pulling away from an agreed American and European policy, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said Thursday that he was considering inviting the newly victorious leaders of the radical Palestinian Islamic group Hamas to Moscow to discuss solutions to the conflict in the Middle East.
He spoke during a day of chaos and violence in the Gaza Strip, where three armed Palestinians were killed as they attacked Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen kidnapped an Egyptian diplomat. The kidnapping was the most serious attack against diplomats in Gaza since a United States diplomatic convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in October 2003, killing three security guards.
Speaking at a joint news conference in Madrid with Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Mr. Putin rejected suggestions that Russia join with the European Union and the United States in declaring Hamas, which won the Palestinian parliamentary elections on Jan. 25, a terrorist organization.
"I am profoundly convinced that burning bridges in politics is the easiest thing to do, but it has no perspective, it has no future," he said. "Preserving our contacts with Hamas, we are willing in the near future to invite the authorities of Hamas to Moscow to carry out talks."
Hamas responded favorably on Thursday. "If we receive an official invitation to visit Russia, we will visit Russia," said Ismail Haniya, a senior Hamas leader, according to a Reuters report from Gaza City.
But Israeli officials said Mr. Putin's remarks conflicted with the ground rules for negotiations that Russia signed on to in London last month at a meeting of the so-called quartet on the Middle East, which also includes the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. They called on Hamas to renounce violence, disarm militias, recognize Israel and respect previous agreements with it, and implied that international aid would be cut off if changes were not made.
In New York, the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, warned that any weakness in dealing with Hamas would "legitimize terror," according to the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman.
At a lunch meeting with Secretary General Kofi Annan and the ambassadors of all five Security Council permanent members, Ms. Livni said, "Any show of weakness or hesitation on the part of any country and especially a member of the Security Council would only act to legitimize terror and give Hamas a feeling that maybe the international community was weakening," Mr. Gillerman reported.
A senior State Department official said that the administration was surprised and irritated by Mr. Putin's remarks, but that Russia had assured the United States that there would not be any senior-level contacts with Hamas. Asked about Mr. Putin's statement, the official said, "Frankly, it doesn't help."
A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mikhail Kamynin, said Russia would adhere to the approach agreed upon in London. Later Thursday, Russia's special Middle East envoy, Aleksandr Kalugin, said Moscow hoped to bring Hamas "up to international requirements" and draw it into dialogue with Israel, The Moscow Times reported.
While Mr. Putin seemed to catch the Bush administration and some others by surprise, it was not the first time he had voiced such an opinion. In a news conference late last month, after the Palestinian elections, he said Russia had "never regarded Hamas as a terrorist organization," and did not rule out financial aid for a Hamas-led government.
Renwick McLean reported from Madrid for this article, and Greg Myre from Jerusalem. Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Moscow, Warren Hoge from New York and Steven R. Weisman from Washington.
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