TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israel's government hunkered down Friday, caught off guard by the Hamas landslide after its vaunted intelligence services predicted a slim victory for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party.
Israel's security agencies had relied to some extent on the same Palestinian polls and opinion makers that led the media astray. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev noted that Palestinians and the international community were also taken by surprise. "We were not more wrong than anyone else," he said.
After the enormity of the Hamas win _ 76 of 132 parliament seats _ became apparent Thursday, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert instructed normally talkative Cabinet ministers not to speak to the media without permission. After a three-hour emergency session of the Security Cabinet, he issued a brief statement that Israel would not negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas ministers.
On Friday, acting Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni appealed to the international community to isolate any future Hamas government, but refused to say what Israel might do.
WaPo
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