On October 6, Israel released the imprisoned and ailing founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The move follows an alleged assassination attempt by Mossad agents an Hamas official in Jordan. Over the weekend, there were calls in the Israeli press for Prime Minister Netanyahu's resignation. Following a background report on recent events, Margaret Warner leads a debate between Dore Gold, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, and Ehud Sprinzak, professor of political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

MARGARET WARNER: Major furor has erupted inside Israel over an attempted assassination in Jordan. The target was this man--Khaled Mashaal, a leader of the militant Islamic movement, Hamas. On September 25, in Amman, Jordan, two men carrying Canadian passports attacked Mashaal attacked with some kind of poison-injecting instrument. Once apprehended, his attackers were widely identified as agents of Mossad, Israel's intelligence service.

The news became public last week when Israel--responding to the demands of an infuriated King Hussein of Jordan, released the imprisoned founder of Hamas, the ailing 61-year-old Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Earlier, King Hussein had also demanded that the Israeli government provide the antidote that saved Mashaal's life. Yesterday, Yassin returned to Gaza to a hero's welcome. In addition, Israel released about 20 other Palestinians from Israeli jails, and reportedly promised to release 50 more in return. Israel won the return of their two Mossad agents. Over the weekend there were calls in the Israeli press for Netanyahu's resignation. But on Sunday the prime minister's cabinet stood behind him. Yesterday Netanyahu spoke publicly for the first time about the affair. He appointed a commission to investigate the incident. But he vigorously defended the way Israel has conducted its fight against terrorism.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: In recent moths we witnessed two suicide bombings in Jerusalem. Hundred of our citizens were wounded and 21 Israeli men, women, and children. Small children were murdered. It was a tragedy. It was an outrage; as prime minister it is my responsibility to do everything in my power to fight this terrorist evil. We operate with a clear idea and a clear convict that we cannot give in to terrorists and that we must fight it, fight its infrastructure, fight its leadership and its operatives.

MARGARET WARNER: Now for more we turn to Dore Gold, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. Previously he served as Prime Minister Netanyahu's chief foreign policy adviser. And Ehud Sprinzak, professor of political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem who's written extensively about terrorism in Israel, among other things. He's currently a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington. Professor was this assassination attempt a good idea as the prime minister said, the right thing for the right reason?

EHUD SPRINZAK, Hebrew University: It was a terrible idea. It was a miserable decision. It lacked thinking and you have to judge by the results, but the point is that many of these things should have been seen in advance. You don't succeed in every attack. And then the question is what comes next. It was not difficult to see what happens if this is a failure, and this, indeed, was a failure. The only victor in this campaign is Hamas, exactly the opposite of what Mr. Netanyahu wanted to achieve, exactly the opposite of Mr. Arafat, troubles for Jordan, this was a very, very poor decision.

MARGARET WARNER: Mr. Ambassador, respond to the overall point, a terrible idea, poorly conceived.

DORE GOLD, U.N. Ambassador, Israel: Prime ministers of Israel have the responsibility to defend the people of Israel. As Prime Minister Netanyahu stated just a few minutes ago, we have had a situation where innocent Israelis have been repeatedly killed, attacked through a series of bombings in the heart of our cities, in Jerusalem most recently but of course in the past years in Tel Aviv, in fact, in all Israeli cities. The prime minister must do what is necessary to protect the people of Israel. We're not going to sit with our hands down. We have to do what is necessary.

Now we're not going into details about what exactly happened in Jordan, but we are enunciating a very clear principle: terrorists all over the world have no safe havens. In the 1970's, in 1972, 11 Israelis were killed in the Munich Olympics, and the Prime Minister Golda Meir knew what had to be done to protect the Israelis from more terrorism from black September. She took courageous decisions. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin faced a spate of terrorist attacks from Hamas. He also had to take special actions sometimes overseas, sometimes in the areas around Israel, itself. Prime Minister Netanyahu is equal committed as his predecessors, Golda Meir and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, to defend the people of Israel. We cannot be in a situation where we are repeatedly facing massive terrorist bombings in the heart of our cities, and we say we won't do anything.

MARGARET WARNER: What about the point that an assassination like this might be a legitimate tool in the fight against terrorism, do you disagree with that point?

EHUD SPRINZAK: I am talking about prudence not about morality. Not a single Israeli citizen is today better secured from Hamas than two weeks ago. On the contrary, it played right to the hands of the Hamas. The issue is not whether or not Israel has the right to do it but how you do it. Mr. Netanyahu is--in the 70's forgot that he is now the prime minister--he has to be very judicious. The last thing you want to do--as we've just seen. In addition, you don't want to create, to make yourself the laughing stock of the rest of the world. I don't think this is a good protection--enough to be emotionally--it's not enough to invoke what everybody feels--about terrorism. You have to be smart; you have to be prudent; and you have to think. And I'm afraid this was a shooting from the hip. It was not serious thinking.

MARGARET WARNER: All right. Ambassador, respond to that point because it's one the Israeli press has used a lot. On the prudence test, on the competence test, that this operation failed--

DORE GOLD: Well look, nothing succeeds like success -and if suddenly, certain terrorists around the world disappear--most of the world will applaud--remember in the recent number of years, without going into who did what, people like Halil Shkali suddenly disappeared--in places like Malta--other cases. Now what I'm trying to say is this: You sometimes have military mishaps that occur. I remember when there was a rescue mission that was attempted by the United States in Iran. That rescue mission failed. But the world didn't come like a pack of wolves against President Carter for attempting it. The fundamental problem you have here is the war on terrorism has existed in the past, will continue in the future until terrorism is no longer a threat to the peace process. But if mishaps occur--and mishaps can occur--the world shouldn't come running after the political leadership in Israel for military mishaps.

MARGARET WARNER: Professor, the President you said--our President, President of the United States said yesterday and today--pointed out that the U.S. had given up assassination as a tool about 20 years ago, and the New York Times said today it was time for Israel to do the same. Do you agree with that point, or do you agree more with the ambassador that at times it is justified?

EHUD SPRINZAK: I think there are indications that Israel has given up on the idea of assassinating, for example, leaders of Hezbollah. They've done--

MARGARET WARNER: That is the group operating in Lebanon.

EHUD SPRINZAK: The Shiite organization in Lebanon. They have done it not because Hezbollah is after the Hamas. They have done it because they have come to the conclusion that as a result of such assassinations you have more terrorism. Now, I am all for very intense struggle against terrorism but again I will have to insist it's about prudence. If you know that something may go wrong, and many things may go wrong, then you want to consider this. I will have to suggest to you that even if this person has been successfully assassinated, I'm still not sure what would have been the consequences because one way or another it is covered. Now the ambassador has mentioned Malta. Now Malta, with all due respect, is not Jordan. Jordan is the warmest of all our allies of Israel and perhaps the only one. You don't go and embarrass the king a mile from his palace. You just don't do it. And all this instinctive drive to be gung ho to fight the terrorists, to eliminate that, all this return to the Golda Meir decision in the 1970's is immaterial to the case. You have to consider what is at stake, and right now and in this case it's very clear it's been a major blunder.

MARGARET WARNER: Mr. Ambassador, respond to something, if you would, that the professor said earlier, which was even if this had succeeded, it wasn't a good idea but, furthermore, because it failed, Israel is less secure. What do you think is the impact or the result, the fallout from this in terms of Israeli security?

DORE GOLD: Well, first of all, let me say that our relations with Jordan have been excellent and will be excellent in the future. There are mutual strategic interests that bind our countries, as well as warm relations at the highest levels. I know that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his majesty, King Hussein, spoke last night. I know that there are also major military meetings to occur in the next few days that are very important--of great importance to both countries. These two countries have a strategic alliance that cannot be torn even when certain mishaps occur in these types of wars against terrorism. I believe also that some of the points of concern about the release of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin are also exaggerated. There's been a big debate in Israel about where Sheikh Ahmed Yassin should be. Here's an aging man who could die in an Israeli prison. The implications of that would be extremely negative. So there have been pros and cons in the various--among various decision makers in Israel about Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and whether he should be released.

One thing is for certain. We've recently seen polling data in the United States. The American public understands that terrorism and the peace process cannot coexist. About 70 percent of the American public in an extensive poll done by Mr. Pipe's organization have shown they agree with Prime Minister Netanyahu; that the peace process cannot move forward as long as terrorism continues. We must continue the battle against terrorism. That's what the prime minister is trying to do so that he can put the peace process back on track. And in the past few days our foreign minister, David Levy, has met with Abu Masin from the Palestinian Authority in the presence of Amb. Dennis Ross, and all three are trying to put the process back on track. They've announced the resumption of the peace talks, not the termination of the peace talks, so that we can continue with this process.

MARGARET WARNER: And you don't--

DORE GOLD: But to make the process work, to make an impaired peace process work, we cannot have buses blowing up in the heart of our cities and have Israel sitting back and doing nothing. We must take action that's necessary to defend our people in coordination with our allies around the world.

MARGARET WARNER: What do you think this incident does, if anything, to the prospects for the peace process?

EHUD SPRINZAK: First, I would like just to take a moment and to invoke a tragedy of the 1980's--the Pollard affair. For many Israelis this was a mishap--

MARGARET WARNER: This was a spy case in which--

EHUD SPRINZAK: A spy case in which Israel--in a rogue operation Israel conducted spying in the United States. I think it was a miserable decision, regardless of the great relations and the strategic relations between Israel and the United States. But for many Israelis it was a mishap, so I'm saying this is almost the same thing. You don't do these things to your friends, period. As for the peace process I don't think that it is going to hurt the peace process. Paradoxically, as a matter of fact, I think that this situation has weakened Mr. Netanyahu significantly. And one of the major reasons why the peace process has not progressed has been a conscious decision by the Israeli prime minister to slow it down and to change the parameters.

MARGARET WARNER: All right. Let me just get the ambassador to respond on that point before we go. Briefly, do you think this has weakened the prime minister?

DORE GOLD: I don't believe so. I think the people of Israel, as well as the people of the United States, understand that military mishaps can occur. What normally happens under reasonable circumstances is that the people of the country gather around the military leadership, support the political leadership when unfortunate incidents occur and don't start nitpicking and trying to analyze and second guess, or Sunday morning quarterback. Mishaps have occurred under previous prime ministers, mishaps have occurred under previous American presidents. What we have to do now is keep our strategic aim in mind.

MARGARET WARNER: All right.

DORE GOLD: That is, eliminate terrorism and put the peace process back on track.

MARGARET WARNER: Mr. Ambassador, Professor, we have to leave it there. Thank you both very much.