Olmert: Israel won’t negotiate with Hamas

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas members, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday after the Islamic militant group's landslide victory in parliament elections.

“The state of Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian administration if even part of it is an armed terrorist organization calling for the destruction of the state of Israel,” Olmert said in a statement issued after an emergency meeting with senior Cabinet ministers, including Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and acting Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

Hamas, whose Islamic militants have carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israel, has said it opposes peace talks and will not disarm. Israel and the United States refuse to deal with Hamas and the two, along with the European Union, have classified Hamas as a terrorist organization.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said major mediating powers Thursday agreed Hamas should renounce violence.

“We reaffirmed the view that ... you can’t have one foot in terror and the other in politics,” Rice told Reuters in an interview after senior officials from the so-called Quartet — Russia, the United Nations, the European Union and the United States — spoke by phone.

No U.S. aid
Rice, who ruled out giving U.S. aid to Hamas, also said she reassured Israel — in a separate call to her counterpart — that the international community would demand the militant group recognize the Jewish state.

And in a coordinated international response to pressure Hamas, which has launched suicide bombings against Israel, the Quartet also issued a statement putting demands on the group now that it has won power.

“A two-state solution to the conflict requires all participants in the democratic process to renounce violence and terror, accept Israel’s right to exist, and disarm,” the statement said.

At a news conference on Thursday, President Bush said in Washington that Hamas can’t be peace partner without renouncing violence. “I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate destruction of a country,” he said.

According to a state official who spoke on condition of anonymity to NBC News, the U.S. gave over $400 million in aid to Palestinians in 2005. It is not yet known whether the U.S. government will take back any of the funds, but the official said “No one wants to see ordinary Palestinians suffer.”

In response to Hamas’ win, Austria, which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, issued a statement on behalf of the 25-nation bloc stating “there is no place in a political process for groups or individuals who advocate violence.”

Israel’s announcement came shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate and leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said he was committed to negotiations with Israel and would start immediate consultations on a new government.

Hamas, meanwhile, was quiet after results came in, issuing no response to global concern prompted by the group’s victory.

Bypassing Hamas leadership?
Abbas also suggested that future negotiations with Israel be conducted through the PLO, a possible bypass of a Hamas-led government.

“I am committed to implementing the program on which you elected me a year ago,” he said in a televised speech. “It is a program based on negotiations and peaceful settlement with Israel.”

The PLO was founded as an umbrella organization for the Palestine groups several decades ago, but its importance has withered since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994. Abbas is leader of the PLO, in addition to his role as Palestinian Authority president.

He said he remained committed to previous peace deals with Israel and the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan, which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Israel's Mofaz also said that the road map is the “only existing path.” He said Israel also will insist that Abbas keep his commitments to disarm militants.

Official vote results in
In Thursday's elections, Hamas won 76 seats in the 132-member parliament, while Fatah, which controlled Palestinian politics for four decades, won 43 seats, said Hanna Nasser, head of the Central Election commission. The 13 remaining seats went to several smaller parties and independents.

Hamas won 60.3 percent of the vote, said Ismail Haniyeh, one of the group's leaders.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and his Cabinet resigned even before the official results were announced.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP FILE Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia submitted his resignation Thursday.

Hamas’ exiled supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, called Abbas from Syria to discuss the results. “He stressed Hamas insists on a partnership with all the Palestinian factions, especially our brothers in Fatah,” Hamas said on its Web site.

In a first sign of pragmatism, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said the group would extend its year-old truce if Israel reciprocates. “If not, then I think we will have no option but to protect our people and our land,” he told Associated Press Television News.

But a Hamas government, without Fatah as a moderating force, would greatly complicate Abbas’ efforts to restart peace talks.

Fatah legislator Saeb Erekat said the party does not want to join a Hamas government. “We will be a loyal opposition and rebuild the party,” Erekat said after meeting with Abbas.

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