Noen har interesse av å presentere sheik Ahmed Yassin som en moderat stemme i Hamas. Selvfølgelig fordi det gjør Israels drap på ham enda mer alvorlig.

Boaz Ganor, leder av the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism i Israel mener det er helt på jordet:

«Viewing Yassin as the sane, moderate voice of Hamas is ridiculous,» he said. «He was an ultraradical who would not accept the right of Israel to exist under any circumstances.»

Bla.a. norske eksperter snakker om at Hamas var interessert i våpenhvile.
«I believe completely that Israel will vanish, and that we Palestinians will recover the lands and homes that were stolen from us in 1948,» Yassin said in an interview with The New York Times shortly before the current Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.

Ganor mener Yassin vil være uerstattelig for Hamas, selv om hans død på kort sikt vil være motiverende:

But in the longer term, he said, the group will be hurt by the absence of Sheik Yassin. «The person that set their strategic policy, the person that incited them and was leading the way, is gone and is perhaps irreplaceable,» he said. «I don’t see any figure in Hamas that will have Sheik Yassin’s level of influence.»

Death of Sheik Raises Question of Hamas Fate