Israeli mayor of bombarded border town offers to break ranks and talk to Hamas

[oberliner]

The mayor of Sderot, an Israeli town repeatedly targeted by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, says in order to save Israeli lives he is ready to talk to Hamas - despite the international ban on contact with the militant Palestinian organisation.

"I would say to Hamas, let's have a ceasefire, let's stop the rockets for the next 10 years and we will see what happens," said Eli Moyal, the mayor, who is a member of the rightwing Likud party. "For me as a person the most important thing is life and I'm ready to do everything for that. I'm ready to talk to the devil."

Last week a child lost a leg in a rocket attack on Sderot. Moyal's first response was to call for the assassination of the Hamas leadership and for Gaza villages to be razed. But now he is ready for a different tactic. His call for talks comes as Israel's blockade on the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip is under international pressure.

Senior UN officials agree in private that a political deal with Hamas will be necessary to end the rocket attacks on Sderot. Without a political solution or a ceasefire, "it's quite hard to see how it's going to change in the future except that possibly it will get worse," one official said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/23/israelandthepalestinians?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

[bemildred]

1. This might be interesting.

Let's see how he gets treated and by whom.

[Violet_Crumble]

2. I suspect his idea isn't going to be popular...

but fwiw, I think he's on the right track now...

[bemildred]

4. I don't know how you do it, Vi, it's like you can read minds ... nt

[bemildred]

3. Sderot mayor denies calling for cease-fire talks with Hamas

Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal sought to clarify Saturday remarks published in the British daily The Guardian, saying he does not believe Israel should conduct cease-fire talks with Hamas in order to bring an end to the incessant Qassam rocket fire that has plagued the western Negev town.

"During the interview I said that I believe we must not talk to Hamas, and that the Israeli government must not talk to Hamas," said Moyal.

"The reporter asked me what I would be willing to due for the residents of Sderot in order to stop this situation, and I answered that, as a citizen, and in order to defend the lives of Sderot residents, I would be willing to go anywhere and talks to Hamas, and with the devil himself. Moyal was quoted as telling The Guardian that he would be willing to negotiate directly with Hamas in an effort to reach a cease-fire and halt the near daily barrages of Qassam rockets that have plagued his town.

"I would say to Hamas, let's have a cease-fire, let's stop the rockets for the next 10 years and we will see what happens," Moyal, who is officially a member of the Likud, was quoted as saying. "For me as a person the most important thing is life and I'm ready to do everything for that. I'm ready to talk to the devil."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/957089.html