With a firm position against the newly-born Palestinian national
unity government, Israel is seeking a united front within the
international community on a broad boycott of the Palestinian
coalition.
Israel will not pursue contacts with the Palestinian coalition
in its entirety, including non-Hamas ministers, Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert vowed on Sunday.
"We expect that the international community will not be misled
by the creation of the coalition government and to persist with its
position of isolating the government that rejects the principles
set out by the Quartet," he added.
During the inauguration of the new coalition on Saturday,
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and
Prime Minister Ismail Haneya (Hamas) delivered speeches heralding
different agendas.
While Abbas called on Israel to engage in serious peace talks
with the new coalition, Haneya said his government would support
armed resistance to Israel and the right of return for thousands of
Palestinian refugees.
The Israeli cabinet on Sunday voted overwhelmingly to uphold its
boycott of the new Palestinian government, hoping that the
Palestinians would see no way out but to adopt the Quartet's three
principles.
The quartet, which groups the United Nations, the European
Union, the United States and Russia, has urged the Palestinian
government to recognize Israel, renounce violence and respect the
agreements signed between the Palestinians and Israel.
To avert the collapse of the international community's boycott,
Israel launched a diplomatic offensive over the weekend. Officials
from the Foreign Ministry told their foreign counterparts that the
Palestinian unity government did not accept "the three benchmarks"
required by the Quartet.
For Israel, its primary concern now is that as the EU or other
Western countries begin to have official contacts with non-Hamas
ministers, it could then lead to the legitimization of the unity
government.
However, it is evident that Israel would be difficult to
persuade even Washington to boycott Fatah or independent ministers
of the Palestinian unity government.
The US consulate in Jerusalem has announced that Washington
would continue to shun the Hamas ministers but permit contacts with
non-Hamas members.
"There are not any conflicts between the US and Israeli position
toward the new Palestinian government," Daniel Ayalon, former
Israeli ambassador to the United States, told Xinhua.
He said that contacts with those non-Hamas Palestinian officials
will help the US to assess the situation and this would not result
in the lift of boycott or sanction, which concerns a clear stance
on the whole Palestinian unity government.
The EU on Saturday even welcomed the establishment of the
Palestinian unity government, though it has not recognized it,
adopting a wait-and-see attitude. The EU said it would closely
scrutinize the new government's platform and actions.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has identified two main trends in
the EU stand. Ireland and Spain have called for an unconditional
normalization of relations with the new Palestinian coalition,
while the British are promoting a proposal to maintain contact with
Fatah ministers only.
Meanwhile, the French Ministry has invited new Palestinian
Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr, an independent minister, for a visit
to France, noting that "it was important to send a signal of
encouragement very quickly."
Ayalon held that "it is very important to keep a united
position" and Israel hopes that the EU will be on the same page on
this issue.
A spokeswoman for Olmert on Saturday also reiterated that Israel
will not "recognize or deal with the new unity government, and
expects the international community to stand strong in its demand
that the new government accept the three principles."
(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2007)
