Associated Press: Israel To Be A New Terrorism Locus?

Al-Qaida itself is making an effort "to operate both in the Palestinian territories and inside Israel proper," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. A Palestinian security official in Gaza agreed that al-Qaida "is in the process of organizing cells and gathering supporters."

If the group succeeds in establishing a full-blown presence, predicted the Israeli military intelligence official, Israel can expect far larger terror attacks than it has seen in the past.

Another Israeli official said a major concern is al-Qaida's activities in Israel's neighbors, especially Jordan, where al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the November 2005 bombings of three hotels that killed 60 people.

Al-Zarqawi also claimed responsibility for a Dec. 27 barrage of rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel, provoking Israeli airstrikes on a Palestinian base in central Lebanon.

In my opinion, al-Qaida would be foolish to begin a concentrated attack on Israel if for no other reason than Israel is, essentially, the best prepared of all western states to defend itself and counter-attack on the terrorism front, and has the greatest amount of experience handling such events.

Hamas (the next Palestinian government) could go either way at this point, but would risk alienating western governments (with large budgets) by aligning itself with a-Q -- which is not to say they may not do so. As I have always said, never let rationality, logic, common sense and proportion get in the way of a good #$!!**!-up decision.

On the other hand, as illustrated by the above map, Israel is clearly a small, bobbing cork isolated by miles of angry oceans.

BZ