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Incoming Hamas chief wants political truce
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-27 09:11
Israel says it will refuse to deal with a Hamas government unless the group
recognizes the Jewish state, disarms and accepts past peace accords with Israel.
Until Hamas meets these conditions, "everything else is empty words," said
Cabinet Minister Roni Bar-On.
On Sunday, Israel's acting foreign minister said Abbas is "not relevant"
because of the victory of Hamas' win in last month's elections and its takeover
of the Palestinian parliament and Cabinet.
Tzipi Livni spoke after meeting U.S. envoy David Welch. The two discussed how
to relate to Abbas, the Fatah leader who is president of the Palestinian
Authority, in light of the landslide Hamas victory over Fatah. Last week Abbas
picked Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to form a new Cabinet.
Livni's statement reflected an apparent difference in approach between Israel
and the U.S. Israel Radio reported that Welch put forward a policy in which the
U.S. would work with Abbas instead of the Hamas-led government, but Israel
rejected that.
Livni told Israel Radio that Abbas "can't be a fig leaf for a terrorist
authority." She said the Hamas government must decide about Israel's demands for
recognition and renunciation of terror, and Abbas "in this regard is not
relevant."
Without referring to the radio report, Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, spokeswoman
of the U.S. consulate in east Jerusalem, said, "In terms of Abu Mazen (Abbas),
we remain fully committed and supportive of him."
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called Livni's remarks "totally
unacceptable." Erekat, from Fatah, said: "The Israelis are trying to undermine
the Palestinian people in general because they don't differentiate between one
Palestinian and the other."
In Jordan, two Hamas lawmakers dismissed any future peace talks with Israel,
calling past negotiations "a failed experiment" and said Arab nations had
rejected U.S. pressure to force the militant Palestinian movement to moderate.
Hamas leaders Mahmoud Zahar and Saeed Syiam made the comments during a
gathering of Arab parliamentarians on the Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea.
Speaking to The Associated Press on the sidelines of the conference, Zahar
asserted that Hamas' recent upset victory in last month's legislative elections
strengthened its hardline stand.
"We don't consider the Israeli enemy a partner. By winning the elections, we
defeated Israel," he said. "Why should we recognize Israel? Pressure is coming
from the United States on us, not from Arab countries."
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