DATE= 10/07/97 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-10382 TITLE=BUNGLED HAMAS ASSASSINATION TRY ROILS ISRAEL BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= INTRO: THE UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT BY ISRAELI AGENTS IN AMMAN, JORDAN TO ASSASSINATE A HAMAS OFFICIAL, HAS THROWN THE COUNTRY INTO A NEW TUMULT, AND THREATENS THE NETANYAHU GOVERNMENT. U-S PAPERS ARE COMMENTING ON THE SITUATION, SOME AS HARSHLY AS THE ISRAELI PRESS, WHEN IT COMES TO BLAMING THE PRIME MINISTER FOR THE FIASCO. WE CALL ON ______________ FOR A CLOSER LOOK IN TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP. TEXT: SEVERAL DAYS AGO, MEN CARRYING FORGED CANADIAN PASSPORTS AND BELIEVED TO BE AGENTS OF MOSSAD, THE ISRAELI SECRET SERVICE, TRIED AND FAILED TO POISON AN OFFICIAL OF HAMAS IN AMMAN, JORDAN. TWO OF THE AGENTS WERE CHASED AND CAPTURED, WHILE THE HAMAS OFFICIAL WAS TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL AND, ALTHOUGH SERIOUSLY ILL, RECOVERED. THE EVENT HAS CAUSED AN UPROAR IN ISRAEL, THE MIDDLE EAST GENERALLY, AND BEYOND. CANADA HAS RECALLED ITS AMBASSADOR FROM ISRAEL OVER THE USED OF FORGED CANADIAN PASSPORTS. JORDAN'S GOVERNMENT DEMANDED THE ANTIDOTE FOR THE POISON USED IN THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, AND JORDAN'S KING HUSSEIN THEN BROKERED A DEAL THAT SAW THE AILING MUSLIM RELIGIOUS LEADER WHO FOUNDED HAMAS, SHEIK AHMED YASSIN, RELEASED FROM AN ISRAELI PRISON AND EVENTUALLY RETURNED TO GAZA. SEVERAL OTHER HAMAS ACTIVISTS HAVE ALSO BEEN RELEASED FROM ISRAELI JAILS, PRESUMABLY IN RETURN FOR THE TWO ISRAELI AGENTS BEING HELD IN JORDANIAN POLICE CUSTODY. PAPERS IN ISRAEL AND HERE IN THE UNITED STATES HAVE LEVELED THEIR MOST INTENSE CRITICISM AT ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, WHO IS REPORTED TO HAVE PERSONALLY ORDERED THE ASSASSINATION EFFORT. WE BEGIN OUR SAMPLING IN THE MIDWEST, WHERE THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE IS VERY CLEAR IN HOW IT FEELS ABOUT THE ISRAELI LEADER. VOICE: "IT'S CLEAR THERE WILL BE NO PEACE WHILE [MR.] NETANYAHU IS THE ISRAELI LEADER. IT'S CLEAR, TOO, THAT THIS MAN WHO WON OFFICE BY PLEDGING TO SHORE UP [STRENGTHEN] ISRAEL'S SECURITY HAS, IN FACT, ONLY PUT HIS COUNTRY IN GREATER LONG-TERM PERIL, EVEN AS HE TURNED HIS BACK ON PEACE. EVEN APOLOGISTS FOR [PRIME MINISTER] NETANYAHU MUST TAKE PAUSE AT THE MOST RECENT EVENTS. ....... [MR.] NETANYAHU AND HIS GOVERNMENT HAVE BEEN EXPOSED AS BUNGLERS. ..... ISRAEL HAS DAMAGED ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH JORDAN, ITS ONLY FRIEND LEFT IN THE ARAB WORLD. .... IT'S TIME FOR THE ISRAELI PEOPLE TO TAKE A SOBER LOOK AT WHAT [MR.] NETANYAHU HAS WROUGHT AND WHAT HIS CONTINUED LEADERSHIP WILL MEAN FOR THEIR COUNTRY." TEXT: IN NEW ENGLAND, THE BOSTON GLOBE IS OF THE SAME MIND, SUGGESTING: VOICE: "THE BOTCHED ASSASSINATION THAT LED TO A REPORTED DEAL BETWEEN ISRAEL'S PRIME MINISTER .... NETANYAHU AND KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN FOR THE RELEASE OF SHEIK AHMAD YASSIN, THE FOUNDER OF HAMAS, HAS THE MARKINGS OF A CERTAIN KIND OF BLUNDER -- THE KIND THAT HAPPENS WHEN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT TRIES TO CONDUCT POLICY WITH MAFIA TACTICS. ..... CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE WAS DONE TO THE [JORDANIAN] KING, YASSER ARAFAT, AND ISRAEL -- THE THREE PRINCIPALS IN MIDEAST PEACEMAKING. THE KING WAS MADE TO LOOK LIKE A DUPE OF THE ISRAELIS AND A CONNIVER WHO STILL WISHES TO COMPETE WITH [MR.] ARAFAT FOR PRESTIGE AMONG PALESTINIANS. [MR.] ARAFAT WAS HUMILIATED BECAUSE [SHEIK] YASSIN'S RELEASE, WHICH ARAFAT HAD REQUESTED MANY TIMES, WAS BESTOWED ON KING HUSSEIN. ISRAEL'S ENTANGLEMENT IN AN UNNECESSARY CLANDESTINE OPERATION IMPERILED ITS PEACE WITH JORDAN AND PLAYED INTO THE HANDS OF THE HAMAS FUNDAMENTALISTS -- THE ENEMIES OF PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE. .... IT IS A TALE OF INCOMPETENCE AND BAD FAITH -- NOT THE WAY FOR A DEMOCRATIC STATE TO COMBAT TERRORIST FANATICS." TEXT: ONE OF THE NATION'S MOST INFLUENTIAL DAILY PAPERS, THE MASS CIRCULATION NEW YORK TIMES SEEMS BEWILDERED AT THIS LATEST TURN OF EVENTS, COMMENTING: VOICE: "ISRAEL HAS DAMAGED ITS OWN INTERESTS WITH A BUNGLED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST A HAMAS LEADER IN AMMAN, JORDAN. EVEN IF THE TWO AGENTS OF ITS MOSSAD INTELLIGENCE SERVICE HAD SUCCEEDED IN KILLING KHALED MESHAL WITH AN INJECTION OF POISON, ISRAEL WOULD HAVE COMPROMISED ITS RELATIONS WITH THREE IMPORTANT FRIENDS -- JORDAN, CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES -- FOR NO OBVIOUS SECURITY GAINS. ISRAEL'S FURY AND FRUSTRATION OVER TERRORIST BOMBINGS ARE UNDERSTANDABLE, BUT TRYING TO ASSASSINATE PALESTINIAN LEADERS IN REVENGE IS NOT THE ANSWER. .... THE POLICY [OF ASSASSINATION] LONG PREDATES HIS [MR. NETANYAHU'S] RULE. LEADERS OF A NEW AND WEAK ISRAEL FELT JUSTIFIED IN DEFENDING THEIR COUNTRY BY WHATEVER MEANS THEY HAD AVAILABLE. A MILITARILY FORMIDABLE ISRAEL THAT RIGHTLY DEMANDS ACCEPTANCE FROM ITS NEIGHBORS SHOULD SET ASIDE STATE-SPONSORED ASSASSINATION AS A FOREIGN-POLICY TOOL." [OPT] TEXT: IN TUESDAY'S [10/7] MIAMI HERALD, THE PAPER CALLS THE PRIME MINISTER "HIS OWN WORST ENEMY," AND SPELLS OUT WHAT THE INCIDENT HAS ACCOMPLISHED IN ITS VIEW. VOICE: "HIS INEPT ACTION HAS: INFURIATED CANADA, WHICH RECALLED ITS AMBASSADOR IN ANGER OVER ISRAEL'S ISSUING FALSE CANADIAN PASSPORTS TO THE SPIES. WEAKENED MR. NETANYAHU'S MORAL SUASION TO DEMAND THAT PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT CRACK DOWN HARDER ON HAMAS AND ISLAMIC JIHAD TERRORISTS. THAT'S BECAUSE, IN A SWAP FOR THE TWO MOSSAD AGENTS, MR. NETANYAHU YESTERDAY FREED 20 PALESTINIANS AND JORDANIANS JAILED FOR VIOLENCE, AND WILL FREE 40 TO 50 MORE WITHIN TWO WEEKS. .... [AND PERMIT] THE RETURN TO GAZA CITY OF THE AILING HAMAS FOUNDER, SHEIK AHMED YASSIN ........ UNDERCUT KING HUSSEIN, ISRAEL'S BEST FRIEND AMONG ARAB RULERS. ..... POTENTIALLY REDUCED MR. ARAFAT'S AUTHORITY AMONG THE PALESTINIANS. ..... ISRAEL HAS ENOUGH TO CONTEND WITH FROM ISLAMIC TERRORISTS WHO DON'T WANT MIDEAST PEACE UNDER ANY TERMS. ISRAELIS INCREASINGLY MUST WONDER WHAT TO DO ABOUT A PRIME MINISTER WHO SOMETIMES ACTS LIKE HIS OWN WORST ENEMY." TEXT: THE LOS ANGELES TIMES THINKS IT WAS A PRETTY BAD MOVE ALSO. VOICE: "IN SUM, [MR.] NETANYAHU HAS BROUGHT ABOUT PRECISELY THE REVERSE OF WHAT HE SET OUT TO ACHIEVE. HAMAS IS STRONGER, THE ISRAEL-JORDAN RELATIONSHIP IS DEEPLY STRAINED, MOSSAD, ISRAEL'S C-I-A, IS DISCREDITED, AND THE PRIME MINISTER IS EXPOSED AS A PRIME BUNGLER ...." TEXT: WHILE THIS GLUM ASSESSMENT APPEARED IN THE WASHINGTON POST. VOICE: "THE INCIDENT IS MORE THAN A PASSING SCANDAL. FEW OTHERS WOULD DENY THAT, IN THE PALESTINIAN SUICIDE BOMBERS, ISRAEL HAS A FIENDISH SECURITY PROBLEM THAT REQUIRES AND JUSTIFIES SPECIAL SECURITY MEASURES. BUT IT MATTERS GREATLY HOW ISRAEL ADDRESSES THAT PROBLEM. COUNTERTERRORISM HAS ITS CLAIMS ..... BUT COUNTERTERRORISM CONDUCTED WITHOUT DUE REGARD FOR THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF EACH OPERATION ENDS UP DIMINISHING ISRAELI SECURITY." [END OPT] TEXT: AND FINALLY, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, STRIVING TO FIND SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM THE INCIDENT, OPINES: VOICE: "WHAT DO ALL THESE NEW WRINKLES MEAN FOR MIDDLE EASTERN PEACEMAKING? WILL [MR.] NETANYAHU BE FORCED TO BECOME MORE ACCOMMODATING ON LIMITING SETTLEMENT ACTIVITY IN THE WEST BANK AND JERUSALEM'S NEIGHBORHOODS? WHAT'S THE IMPORT OF SHEIKH YASSIN'S MODERATING TONE? AT THE LEAST, THERE'S GREATER FLUIDITY, WHICH COULD BE AN IMPROVEMENT OVER THE SET-IN-CONCRETE IMPASSES OF THE LAST FEW MONTHS." TEXT: THAT CONCLUDES THIS BRIEF SAMPLING OF OPINION FROM THE U-S PRESS OVER ISRAEL'S BOTCHED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT OF A HAMAS OFFICIAL IN JORDAN. NEB/ANG/KL 07-Oct-97 2:20 PM EDT (1820 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .