Israel has decided to renew contacts with the Palestinian
National Authority (PNA) representatives abroad following the
formation of the Salam Fayyad-led Palestinian government, local
Ha'aretz said on Tuesday.
According to Ha'aretz, Israeli Foreign Ministry last
week has issued an instruction to its ambassadors and consuls,
saying that "the instructions that banned all contacts with
official Palestinian diplomatic representatives have been
altered."
"It is allowable to resume contacts with Palestinian
representatives, like in the past," the constructions said.
The decision was made "in light of the new situation that has
emerged in the Palestinian (National) Authority, and the formation
of the new government headed by Salam Fayyad," it said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met twice last month with
Fayyad, the US-backed prime minister of the Palestinian caretaker
government.
Fayyad was tasked by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with
forming an emergent government in mid June after Abbas sacked the
Hamas-led coalition government following Hamas' takeover of the
Gaza Strip.
On July 13, Fayyad's emergency cabinet resigned and formed an
interim caretaker cabinet.
But the would-be 12th Palestinian government is still unapproved by
the Hamas-dominated parliament, which failed to convene due to the
differences between Hamas and its rival Fatah movement.
There are currently 107 official PNA diplomatic offices
worldwide. Under the new instructions, many Israel's ambassadors
have held meetings with the Palestinian representatives, said
Ha'aretz.
In early 2006 when Hamas made an overwhelming victory in the
Palestinian legislative elections and later set up its government,
Israel instructed its diplomats to refrain from all contacts with
the Palestinian representatives.
(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2007)
