Netanyahu: Hamas Could Replace the PA Before or After Agreement

Tuesday 1st January, The Jerusalem Post newspaper published on its website that Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Hamas could replace the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, before or after a peace agreement. Netanyahu said, "Any sensible person can understand Hamas is able to replace the Palestinian Authority - before an agreement or after an agreement - as witnessed in Gaza." As a response to President Shimon Peres's call to renew talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Netanyahu said that as opposed to the "voices that I have heard recently urging me to make concessions and withdraw," he will continue to manage the diplomatic process "responsibly and sagaciously and not in undue haste." The newspaper also published that Netanyahu stated Israel must avoid allowing a "third Iranian terror base in the heart of the country," stating that peace will only come once security is assured. Netanyahu added that the Palestinian Authority regime could be shaken at any time, as witnessed in Egypt and Syria.