stan,
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How do you see Hamas as in a better position to be influenced than Hizballah?
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because israel has more cards to play against hamas than hizballah. hamas isn't as well-armed as hezbollah, and if israel really wanted to, they could make hamas bleed far more heavily in an outright confrontation. also, control of the entrypoints into gaza makes hamas more politically vulnerable.
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And they are still asking for the same thing they were asking for 5 years ago, a hudna, a temporary cease-fire that eventually ends, so that they can continue attempting to push the Jews into the sea. There was no fundamental shift in the process of the organization. They want Israel to go back to pre-1967 borders, but they see even that sort of move as temporary. If they can be influenced, they certainly have not been influenced enough to abandon that very core doctrine of theirs
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well, the way i see it, hamas can be influenced in two ways. through negotiation or force. and unless israel is willing to pay the human, economic, and political price of using force- and force massive enough to ensure that they can get what they want- then israel doesn't have much choice in the matter.
yes, hamas is distasteful to say the least, but if the US can negotiate with an enemy power that killed tens of thousands of her boys through suicide bombings, ambushes, execution, and torture (imperial japan)....
in any case, i'm not seeing any tangible harm that may arise from negotiations with hamas. if hamas remains intransigent, israel still has the option of striking. this is how israel got started negotiating with the PLO (another terror organization, after all), no? hell, these days israel actually facilitates giving arms to abbas and fatah.