Hamas: Barak will not differ from Netanyahu

Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab stated that Ehud Barak "will not differ from Netenyahu, as his electional program focuses on the issues of settlements and Jerusalem."

He added, "We in Hamas do not differentiate between Labor and Likud because this is an Israeli international affair, and we regard Israel as an occupying country. Therefore what concerns us is the Israeli withdrawal, dissolving settlements and establishing Palestinian state, and we regard the two sides as two faces of a coin."

He added, "We want a realistic matter and those who bet on the Israeli elections fell more than once, as they bet before on Shimon Peres, and we do not think that betting on the others -- who are the enemy -- is considered achieving results for us and bets must be on our capabilities on persuading and forcing occupation on submitting to our rights and demands."