Speaking at the weekly meeting of his Cabinet on Sunday, Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would boycott the new
Palestinian government and urged the international community to
follow suit. The Cabinet overwhelmingly endorsed Olmert's
position.
The Cabinet vote came a day after the rival Palestinian factions
Hamas and Fatah installed their new unity government. They hope the
alliance will end months of infighting and persuade the
international community to lift a year of bruising economic
sanctions.
While the coalition's platform is more moderate than that of the
previous Hamas-led government, Olmert said it fell short of
international demands to renounce violence, recognize Israel and
accept past peace deals. He also noted its affirmation of the right
to "resistance."
"We can't maintain contact with the government or its ministers
when you consider that this is a government that does not accept
the conditions of the international community and sees terror as a
legitimate goal," Olmert told his Cabinet.
"We expect the international community will not waver ... and
will continue the steps that were taken to isolate the government
that does not accept the (international) principles," he added.
Olmert said he would maintain contact with the moderate
Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who was separately elected
and is not a member of the coalition government. But Olmert said
the discussions would be limited to "quality of life" issues, such
as improving living conditions for Palestinians.
The Cabinet overwhelmingly endorsed Olmert's position 19-2,
Israeli radio stations reported.
New disposition
The new Palestinian administration replaced a year-old
government led by Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has killed
dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings. It capped months of
negotiations interrupted by bursts of violence that killed more
than 140 Palestinians between Hamas and Fatah.
Hamas' rise to power last year provoked Western donor nations to
cut off aid to the Palestinians. Israel also has withheld hundreds
of millions of dollars in taxes it collects for the Palestinians.
The sanctions have devastated the Palestinian economy.
At Saturday's parliamentary swearing-in ceremony, Palestinian
leaders sent mixed messages about their dealings with Israel. But
in sum, they appeared to show a softening of Hamas' stance toward
Israel.
The new Palestinian alliance appears to implicitly recognize
Israel by calling for a Palestinian state on lands the Israelis
captured in 1967, in contrast with Hamas' past calls to eliminate
Israel altogether.
It also pledges to "respect" previous agreements with Israel and
authorizes Abbas to conduct future peace talks. Any future deal
would be submitted to a national referendum, suggesting Hamas would
not hold veto power.
Abbas, a moderate who has repeatedly condemned violence and
called for peace talks with Israel, has said the deal is the best
he can get from Hamas and was needed to avert Palestinian civil
war.
"The Israeli position concerning the Palestinian government is
unacceptable," Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a top aide to Abbas, said Sunday.
"We hope the world community, especially the US and Israel, will
deal with this government. This is the only opportunity for peace
and stability so far."
The deal also has revealed some divisions within Hamas.
Presenting the government's program to parliament on Saturday,
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said the alliance would work
"first and foremost to establish an independent Palestinian state,"
with disputed Jerusalem as its capital, on lands Israel occupied in
the 1967 Mideast War.
He said the Palestinians maintained the right to resist
occupation, but would also seek to widen a truce with Israel, now
limited to the Gaza Strip.
Sunday, however, Hamas issued a statement saying the government
platform "is totally different than the program of the Hamas
movement."
"We call on the national unity government to support the choice
of resistance against the occupation and to offer all possible
means to confront the continuous aggression against our people,"
the statement said.
International response
The international community's response will be crucial for the
future of the new Palestinian government.
Finance Minister Salam Fayyad warned on Saturday that the new
government would not be able to function for long unless the
boycott is lifted and financial aid is increased.
"We do face a very serious and crippling financial crisis," he
said. "Without the help of the international community, it is not
going to be possible for us to sustain our operations."
Israeli officials fear the new government will cause the tough
international stance against the Palestinians to crumble. Israel
and the US Sunday ruled out a resumption of financial transfers to
the Palestinians. But Norway announced it would lift sanctions, and
Britain and the UN also signaled flexibility.
The European Union said Sunday it was willing to work with the
new Hamas-Fatah coalition government, but the Palestinians must
first adopt demands from the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers that
include the recognition of Israel.
The EU presidency recalls the bloc's readiness "to work with and
to presume its assistance to a legitimate Palestinian government
adopting a platform reflecting the Quartet principles," Germany
said in a statement.
"The EU will carefully assess the platform and actions of the
new government and its ministers," the statement said.
In a sign of hope for the government, Norway, a major donor,
said on Saturday it would restore aid to the Palestinians.
However, Israeli and American officials said Sunday the ban on
transfers to the Palestinian government would remain in place. The
Israeli sanctions are especially painful because the money it has
withheld is a major source of funding for the Palestinian
government budget.
Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, spokeswoman for the US Consulate in
Jerusalem, said the Americans were "very disappointed" with
Haniyeh's speech. She said he had missed an opportunity to accept
the international conditions and make the Palestinians a "partner
for peace."
But in a break from the Israelis, she said the US would likely
maintain contact with non-Hamas members of the government.
(China Daily via agencies March 19, 2007)
