Top Israeli security officials on Sunday recommended cutting all ties with
the Hamas-led Palestinian government and ruled out peace talks with the
Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, as long as the Islamic militant group
refuses to renounce violence.
Acting Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert speaks during a meeting with Kadima party members in
Tel Aviv, Sunday, April 9, 2006. Israel's Security Cabinet on Sunday
recommended cutting all ties with the Hamas-led Palestinian government and
ruled out peace talks with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, as
long as the Islamic militant group refuses to renounce violence.
[AP] |
The recommendation, which essentially approved what has been Israeli policy
since Hamas won elections in January, raised the likelihood that Israel will
push forward with acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to impose a border in
the West Bank by 2010.
In a statement, the ministers said there will be "no personal boycott" of
Abbas, but rejected any substantive negotiations with the Palestinian leader — a
moderate who hopes to restart peace talks.
The Israeli Security Cabinet, a small group of top government officials, made
the recommendation amid increasing Israeli military pressure on Hamas in
response to Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel.
Israeli forces pounded suspected launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip
with artillery fire on Sunday, killing a Palestinian police officer and wounding
16 people. The Palestinian government called an emergency meeting to discuss the
growing tensions.
Israel has refused to deal with Hamas, demanding that it halt violence,
recognize Israel and accept previous interim peace agreements. Israel also has
suspended the transfer of $55 million in tax revenues it collects for the
Palestinians, dealing a tough blow to the cash-strapped Palestinian government.
Hamas has rejected the ultimatum despite intense international pressure and a
growing financial crisis.
The Security Cabinet decision branded the Palestinian Authority a "hostile
entity" and said all ties should be cut. Government spokesman Asaf Shariv said
relations with Abbas would be limited, and peace talks were out of the question.
The recommendations were to be approved by the full Cabinet next Sunday, he
said.
"The Palestinian Authority is one unit and does not have two heads," the
statement said, adding that Israel will work to "undermine" the Palestinian
government. It also said Israel will boycott diplomats who have contact with
Hamas.
Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for the Palestinian president, said Israel
should negotiate with Abbas, who is the head of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, because Israel signed its agreements with the PLO. Abu Rdeneh said
Israel should not "look for any pretext for escaping from negotiating table."
The policy could give more momentum to Olmert, who plans to draw a border in
the West Bank unilaterally by 2010 if he believes a peace accord is impossible.
Under Olmert's plan, Israel would withdraw from large parts of the West Bank,
but retain and strengthen major settlement blocs. The plan would fall far short
of Palestinian claims to all of the area.
Olmert's Kadima Party won Israeli elections last month, and he is expected to
complete formation of a new government supporting his plan in the coming weeks.
Speaking to Kadima activists Sunday evening, Olmert said, "We want this
government to be able to fulfill within the coming four years the obligations it
took on itself in the political and security areas ... to bring Israel to a safe
refuge of peace and final borders."
Israel's tough stance against Hamas has received widespread international
backing. The U.S. and European Union, which consider Hamas a terrorist group,
last week cut off tens of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian
Authority.
Israel's Cabinet on Sunday decided to pay Israeli suppliers of fuel to the
Palestinians from tax money Israel collects but is refusing to transfer. The
decision came as an Israeli fuel company threatened to cut off supplies unless
it was paid the $7.6 million it is owed.
The cutoff in aid has compounded an already dire financial situation for the
Palestinian government.
In interviews published Sunday, Palestinian Finance Minister Omar Abdel Razek
said the crisis was worse than he thought, and he did not know when he would be
able to pay salaries to the government's 140,000 workers.
The Palestinian Authority is the biggest employer in the West Bank and Gaza.
A collapse in the government would worsen conditions in an area where more than
40 percent of the population live in poverty.