In the 1970s, the CIA had contacts inside Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization and some of its offshoots. They were lost after the Israelis killed an important Palestinian source in 1979 and a car bomb demolished the U.S. embassy in Lebanon in 1983, killing the CIA's top Middle East expert, Robert Ames, and at least six of his colleagues. Since the Oslo peace accords between the Israelis and the Palestinians, cooperation between their intelligence services has been growing slowly. United States officials said that effort must now be redoubled . They both have means, different means, to meet the threat.
Cooperation here is critical.
Last year, Clinton signed an order making it illegal for Americans to donate money to Hamas. Estimates of the size and sources of Hamas' financing vary wildly. Others say up to half its money comes from Palestinians in the United States. The United States is talking to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria about cracking down on Hamas leaders and supporters who live there. Still other intelligence officials are convinced that Iran is the major source of money, intelligence, training and weaponry for Hamas.