Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Israel says no peace talks

Israeli leaders say the new Palestinian government must explicitly renounce violence first.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published March 19, 2007

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that peace talks with the Palestinian coalition government would be impossible as long as it refuses to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.

The Israeli Cabinet endorsed Olmert's hard line, urging the West to maintain harsh economic sanctions imposed with last year's election of the militant Islamic Hamas. Palestinians had hoped the new alliance between the moderate Fatah and Hamas would lead Israel and Western countries to lift the sanctions, urging the international community to give their new government a chance.

"We can't have contact with members of a government that justifies resistance, or in other words, terror," Olmert said, according to meeting participants.

Palestinian officials urged Israel to reconsider.

"This statement continues the long-standing Israeli policy that says there is no Palestinian partner for peace," said Azzam al-Ahmed of Fatah, the new deputy prime minister. "Israel doesn't want to revive the peace process."

The new Palestinian platform appears to soften Hamas' militant stance. Though it refers to resistance "in all forms" to Israeli occupation, it also calls for consolidating and expanding a truce with Israel.

Olmert said he would maintain contacts with the moderate Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, who was elected separately and is not part of the new Cabinet. But he said any talks would be limited to humanitarian issues.

Almost as soon as the government was sworn in, divisions emerged in the coalition. Hamas issued a statement Sunday distancing itself from the government: "We call on the national unity government to support the choice of resistance against the occupation."

Israel has grown concerned that the tough international stance against Hamas could crumble following the group's power-sharing agreement with Fatah, and signs of that also began to emerge.

Norway, a major donor to the Palestinians, immediately agreed to resume aid. Britain and the United Nations also signaled flexibility, while the United States and Israel said Sunday that their positions would not change.

During Saturday's swearing-in ceremony, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said Palestinians maintained the right to resist occupation but would seek to widen a truce with Israel.

Abbas has said the deal is the best he can get from Hamas.

Arab leaders pledged support for the unity government. The Jordanian and Saudi kings expressed hope it would lead to Palestinian independence, and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa called for an end to international sanctions.

In addition to their struggle for international legitimacy, the Palestinians could also crumble over ideological differences and lingering enmity between Fatah and Hamas.

Abbas on Sunday named a Gaza strongman known for leading a crackdown on Hamas militants a decade ago as his national security adviser, presidential aides said.

The appointment puts Mohammed Dahlan, a top official in Abbas' Fatah, in a sensitive position as Palestinian leaders try to reform their myriad and competing security services. Hamas still has rocky relations with Dahlan.

[Last modified March 19, 2007, 01:27:24]