Israel will pay a moral price for combat in Gaza, while Hamas has already accomplished being granted legitimacy by the Arab leaders who visited the Strip, says Dr. Mahmoud Ramhi, a Hamas member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and one of the most prominent Hamas representatives in the West Bank.

"Israel did not calculate its steps wisely when it began this war," Ramhi said in an interview with Haaretz on Saturday. "And without taking into account the way it will end or the losses in life and property that are being and will be caused primarily to the Palestinian side, Israel will pay a price - not in the material sense, but in the moral sense."

Surprisingly, Ramhi did not jump into talk of the immediate future or the possibility of a cease-fire.

"What must engage the Israelis today is not whether there will be peace with the Palestinian Authority, or whether there will be a Palestinian state, but whether Israel will continue to exist or not," he said. "The people of Israel must hold their leadership accountable and search for the leadership that's good for the nation, because [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and [Foreign Minister Avigdor] Lieberman are leading Israel toward devastation. Under their leadership, Israel will not be able to be accepted in the Arab sphere."

Some 600 Hamas supporters took part in a demonstration in Ramallah on Friday afternoon to protest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. That's one result of Operation Pillar of Defense: After years in which the Palestinian Authority suppressed Hamas political activity, said Ramhi, the PA's security forces do not now dare to prevent Hamas from returning to the public sphere.

In exchange for a halt to the missiles being fired on Israel from Gaza, said Ramhi, Hamas no longer expects that Israel halts its military attacks. It is also demanding that Israel lift the blockade of the Strip. Hamas wants goods, including construction material, to be allowed in without restriction, said Ramhi; he said it also wants a port built and the Rafah crossing reopened, with people granted freedom of movement across the Gaza-Egypt border terminal "as in any other country in the world."

In response to a question about why Hamas isn't calling for a resumption of freedom of movement between Gaza and the West Bank, Ramhi said Hamas' demands are "in accordance with the situation in the field," adding that Hamas isn't living in a fantasy world. "Today Israel even prevents us from going to Jordan, so Hamas can't demand that people [be allowed to] go out through Erez [crossing] ... and then they'll get arrested." In response to a comment that not all Gaza residents are Hamas operatives or supporters, Ramhi said: "True, and even today there are some who get permits to leave for the West Bank."

Ramhi, an anesthesiologist, was released four months ago from administrative detention after being in custody for two years. He has been arrested and tried several times for belonging to Hamas, and has been in Israeli jails for a total of eight years.

'Israel lost all Mideast allies'

"When Israel assassinated Ahmed Jabari [the Hamas military chief killed Wednesday], it knew that he was involved in negotiations with the Egyptians over a tahadiyeh [lull]," said Ramhi. "Of course it was a loss for Hamas, but ultimately, it was a slap in the face to Egypt."

Ramhi said Israeli leaders are shortsighted.

"I find that the Israeli leadership behaves foolishly," he said. "It sees only as far as its election. It looks at the future of the election, but doesn't look at the future of Israel. Israel has lost all its allies in the region."

For instance, Israel "lost Turkey as a strategic ally with its own hands, in an attack on a civilian ship," said Ramhi, referring to the 2010 Israeli naval raid of the Mavi Marmara. "Now it's losing Egypt. And not because [Egyptian President Mohammed] Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, is in power. In Jordan the protesters are already calling, not for a decrease in gas prices, but for the downfall of the king. Israel has lost its ties with the [Palestinian] Authority, and is now losing its deterrent power, with 4 million Israelis in the line of fire. One can rightly ask how they are to blame, but by the same token we must ask how the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza are to blame."

Ramhi said Israel must recognize that the recent changes in the Arab world are benefiting the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is a part.

"The United States," said Ramhi, "is smarter than Israel. It is acting in line with its interests. It started moving a bit closer to the Muslim Brotherhood, not just on the Egyptian track, but also [closer] to us, here."

The U.S. has given a green light to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to bring Hamas members into the Palestinian government in the West Bank, as long as the establishment of a unity government is delayed. This means that Hamas in the West Bank is recognized as a political Islamic movement, said Ramhi. He said the proposal is still being discussed, although Hamas officials have already said, at the meeing some three weeks ago, that they want at least a year in which Hamas supporters get their political rights back: detainees are released, Hamas members fired from their jobs for political reasons get their positions back, and political activity is allowed.

Israel must begin a dialogue with political Islam if it wants to survive, said Ramhi.

"If Israel wants to continue to exist in the region, it must open a channel of political dialogue with political Islam in the area, including Hamas," he said. "The Israelis need a leadership that knows how to negotiate with others. That can deal with others, not with arrogance or a feeling of supremacy."

So does this mean Israel should skip over the PA and begin to negotiate directly with Hamas? Ramhi said no.

"This is another achievement [due to] the war on Gaza, that Hamas and PLO groups are coming closer together than before," he said.