Wikileaks: Diskin said Fatah is on its 'last legs'
Shin Bet head's 2007 assessment: Fatah "desperate, disorganized, and demoralized" in Gaza, Hamas "well-organized and ascendant."
By JPOST.COM STAFFYuval Diskin 311(photo credit: Sivan Faraj )
A newly released Wikileaks cable from June 2007 revealed Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) head Yuval Diskin's assessments of the current situation in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.He painted a picture of "a desperate, disorganized, and demoralized Fatah in the Gaza Strip, versus a well-organized and ascendant Hamas."RELATED:WikiLeaks: US-Israel relations weathered a 'rocky start'Diskin said the situation in the West Bank was "comparatively better," and said the level of cooperation that the Shin Bet receives from the Palestinian security services operating in the West Bank had improved.However, he expressed concerns over what he characterized as "a crisis of leadership in Fatah, with PA President Abbas already focusing on his retirement, and his possible successors incapable of leading the Palestinians in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."
"Diskin said that Fatah is on its 'last legs,' and that the situation bodes ill for Israel," the cable read.In another cable released Monday, it was revealed that during a 2007 June 12 meeting with US Ambassador to Israel Richard H. Jones, then-head of Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin said that Gaza was "number four" on his list of threats, preceded by Iran, Syria, and Hizbullah in that order.Yadlin said military intelligence had been predicting armed confrontation in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah since Hamas won the January 2006 legislative council elections, the cable revealed.
