I'm surprised anyone was shocked by Hamas winning the parliment in the Palestinian election. Seemed like a no brainer to me.

If I'm Israel right now I'm very skeptical that any type of peace talks can go forward at this point. Pretty soon this may be one nation at war with another one, and only seperated by a few miles. Scary thought.

I heard this morning that no one was more shocked by the win than Hamas itself. They weren't expecting to get the majority so their strategy has to change. They only wanted to be the minority so they could keep Fatah in check.

There never has been and never will be "peace" in the Middle East. When it looks like there will be, watch out, because things will be getting ugly shortly thereafter.

Right there with you blah.

Hamas is very well financed by Iran and Syria, which means that Palestine can now be run as a satellite state like Afghanistan was for so long under the Taliban. With the nuke crisis heating up with Iran don't be surprised to see Israel attack Iran in a preemptive action. Iran will never get nukes simply because Israel will bomb them to prevent it.

Scarey stuff.

I don't think Israel can bomb Iran to prevent them from getting nukes. The lesson from Iraq has been learned by both Iran and N. Korea. You have to assume MAD applies (which is a bit more scary than in the past because the Iranian leadership is nuts, even granting that their president doesn't have a lot of power).

The precedent at play is the "massacre" of Jenin, and whether it can be repeated in Gaza. If the Israelis successfully suppress hostile action coming from Gaza (which I assume will come), how will the Palestinian electorate respond over 2-3 election cycles?

I believe that Sharon knew this to be inevitable whether Israel withdrew from Gaza or not, but the withdrawal positions Israel to respond as it would to another hostile state.

All that said, I think you overestimate how much Hamas is beholden to Syria/Iran. Hezbollah is their client, and I think pretty well acts to their bidding, but Hamas is more autonomous, and I think their funding is more diverse.

One thing is for sure and that is the United States is not going to fund a known terrorist organization such as Hammas. We give the Palestenians around $225mil per year. Yasser Arafat had mansions all over the world by the way courtesy of the American tax payer.
With Hammas in control Congress will be under huge pressure to not send that money. Sad part is the average Palestenian who is dirt poor will pay the price. You get what you voted for I guess.

Quote:Hamas Election win...what happens now?

you get the hell out of there if you are Jewish.