A Tic In The Mind's Eye: Promised Land Ministry Of Offense

"All of Israel is a military base," he said at the time. "All the Israeli people are soldiers in the Israeli army."--Jamal Abu Samhadana, Palestinian Authority Interior Minister and Terrorist

Security job goes to Gaza militant wanted by Israelis

JERUSALEM -- The Palestinian Authority appointed one of Israel's most-wanted militants to a top security post on Thursday, a move that Israeli and American officials denounced as a sign that the Hamas-led government still supports terrorism.

Jamal Abu Samhadana is a Gaza Strip militant who survived an Israeli assassination attempt and leads a group still actively involved in launching rudimentary rockets into Israel.

In his new job with the Interior Ministry, Samhadana will help oversee a new team of militants the government said would be called on to contain unchecked lawlessness in the Gaza Strip.

Samhadana's appointment could increase tensions between the Hamas-dominated Cabinet and the more moderate Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas and Hamas have been wrestling for control over the 60,000-member security forces.

This month, Abbas appointed a strong ally to a top post in the Interior Ministry, a move viewed as directly undermining Hamas' appointee as interior minister, Said Siyam.

Now Hamas is turning to Samhadana.

"This is ... a demonstration of the true nature and the true tactics of this particular Hamas-led government," said U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

As leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, Samhadana has established himself as one of the more combative and popular Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

During the second Palestinian uprising, Samhadana's group staged three attacks that for the first time exposed the vulnerability of Israeli tanks.

In 2003, Palestinian police arrested four members of the group and accused them of orchestrating a 2003 attack on a U.S. diplomatic convoy that killed three Americans. But the suspects were later released for lack of evidence, and the United States has long criticized the Palestinian government for not pursing the case.

A year later, Israel tried to assassinate Samhadana by launching a rocket at his car while it was traveling through the Gaza Strip.

Last fall, members of Samhadana's group claimed responsibility for the assassination of a former Palestinian security chief, Moussa Arafat, who was a cousin of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Samhadana denied that his forces were behind the killing.

Since then, the group has continued to launch rockets into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip.

Last fall, Samhadana said all Israelis were legitimate targets. "All of Israel is a military base," he said at the time. "All the Israeli people are soldiers in the Israeli army."

On Thursday, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees said Samhadana's appointment wouldn't affect the group's tactics.