"Now that the Iraqi people, thanks to America and Britain, are getting rid of their own brutal dictatorship, we hope that also our Palestinian neighbours will draw the right conclusions and give the necessary authority to a more peaceful leadership of their own, which will fight against terror and violence and engage Israel in genuine peace talks based on compromise," said Zalman Shoval.

"The rapid and, to me not surprising, events in Bagdad and the soon-to-be expected disappearance of the Saddam regime may create the chance for a new and more peaceful Middle East which hopefully will have a beneficial effect also with regard to other terrorist or terrorist-supporting forces in the region," he said.

Shoval, a foreign policy advisor to the prime minister, was talking as US forces took over the heart of Baghdad.

Israel and the United States want Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat dropped and replaced by a moderate government with whom peace talks can be held.

It also hopes the forcible regime change in Baghdad will send a message to other hardline regimes in the region, including Syria, Iran and Libya.

"A very large threat which was hanging over Israel's eastern border has disappeared ... Without Iraq, there is no longer the possibility of a united Arab front on our eastern border," General Amos Gilad said earlier this week.

"Saddam's regime was a threat to us. Its disappearance bolsters American hegemony in the region and deprives Syria of its strategic rear," he said.

SPACE.WIRE