Publication

This report challenges the assumptions that Hamas is ideologically incapable of evolving to accept the existence of Israel and that isolation and strong pressure are the only tools that may force it to recognize Israel. On the one hand, the authors make a case for recognizing that Hamas has already, in certain respects, changed and has sent signals regarding its possible coexistence with Israel. On the other hand, they conclude that Hamas might never 'recognize' Israel in the conventional sense and that, since Hamas apparently cannot be eliminated, attempts to engage it must take into account its commitment to the structures of sharia.