The truth on the ground.

Ironically, today was the first international day commemorating the Holocaust. Yet, it came during a week which saw Hamas gain a majority in the recent Palestinian election.

The question of how to deal with organizations like Hamas is nothing new:

The first is that their stated aims are completely uncompromising. But there have been a number of times in the past when it is clear that there were deep, profound differences between different wings and different leaders and different trends within Hamas over whether to come to terms with the PA, indeed, even whether to comes to terms with Israel, at least in the short-term.

Now that Hamas has won a majority what does this victory portend for the future?

For years, there has been growing discontent among Palestinians with Fatah’s corrupt and ineffective governance. In going to the polls, many voters were expressing their frustration with the ruling party’s failure to deliver peace, implement reforms, improve living conditions or free the Palestinians from their shackles of poverty and unemployment. By casting votes for Hamas, many voters were hitting back at Fatah for its failures, rather than expressing their support for the Islamist party.

Surprisingly enough, comparisons are being drawn between Hamas and Israel’s Likud party:

Ladies and Gentlemen, may we introduce ... Hamas - the new Likud. It’s 1977 all over again, People of Israel. Once again, everything we knew, is wrong.

Hamas has long been an outsider in the peace process but, now with the election win the question becomes whether or not Hamas will soften it’s rhetoric. If it doesn’t, there will be a high price to pay:

Former President Carter said the United States, by law, would have to cut off direct funding to the Palestinian Authority as soon as Hamas takes control, but it should look for other ways to give money to the Palestinians, such as through the United Nations. Hamas has been branded a terrorist group by the U.S. and Europe.

“United States law would require that the money would be cut off if Hamas is in the government, so that’s a foregone conclusion,” Carter told The Associated Press.

Our world is daily becoming a smaller and smaller place. It is easy to recognize Hamas victory and the resultant events spawned by that victory will have repercussions throughout the region. Let’s hope for the best.

There is no doubt that the surprising Hamas victory in the Palestinian Authority elections has created a new reality in the region, which also has international implications. Everyone who has anything to do with the conflict, and every country that is concerned with matters of Islamization, will have to examine what has happened -especially Israel.

Israel will be the crucial factor in determining the international attitude, and even the attitude of the Arab world, with respect to this new development. Everyone will be waiting for Israel's reaction with bated breath. Any mistake it makes in the analysis of the situation and the response it necessitates will determine the nature of the others' reaction.