More than half of all Israelis disagree with their government's decision to boycott the Palestinians' new governing alliance

Most Israelis advocate Palestinian contacts: poll
AMY TEIBEL

Associated Press

JERUSALEM — More than half of all Israelis disagree with their government's decision to boycott the Palestinians' new governing alliance, which doesn't explicitly recognize the Jewish state's right to exist, a poll showed on Monday.

Thirty-nine per cent of the 517 people surveyed by the Dahaf Research Institute said Israel should talk with the new Palestinian government, made up of the militant Islamic Hamas and the more moderate Fatah. An additional 17 per cent said their government should engage only Fatah cabinet ministers. The poll had a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.

Past polls have also shown the broader Israeli public to be more flexible than its government on various issues related to peacemaking.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said peace talks with the Palestinian coalition government would be impossible as long as it refused to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.

“We can't have contact with members of a government that justifies resistance, or, in other words, terror,” Mr. Olmert told his cabinet. The cabinet endorsed the Prime Minister's hard line, and urged the West to maintain harsh economic sanctions imposed after Hamas, which killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, swept parliamentary elections last year.

Israel and the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers — the United States, EU, UN and Russia — imposed sanctions to pressure Hamas to recognize the Jewish state's right to exist and disarm. Despite widespread economic hardship, Hamas rejected the Quartet's demands.

Palestinians hope the new alliance between the moderate Fatah and Hamas would lead Israel and western countries to lift the sanctions, urging the international community to give their new government a chance.

And there are signs — troubling to Israel — that the tough international stance against Hamas could crumble in the wake of the Islamic group's alliance with Fatah.

Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, spokeswoman for the U.S. Consulate, said Sunday the United States would likely maintain contact with non-Hamas members of the new government.

Norway, a major donor to the Palestinians, has already agreed to resume aid to the Palestinians. And Britain and the United Nations have also signalled flexibility.

Palestinian officials urged Israel to reconsider.

“This statement continues the long-standing Israeli policy that says there is no Palestinian partner for peace,” said Azzam al-Ahmed of Fatah, the new deputy prime minister. “Israel doesn't want to revive the peace process.”

Mr. Olmert said he would maintain contacts with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, who was elected separately and is not part of the new cabinet. But he said any talks would be limited to humanitarian issues.

The new Palestinian platform appears to soften Hamas' militant stance. Though it refers to resistance “in all forms” to Israeli occupation, it also calls for consolidating and expanding a truce with Israel.

The platform 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 destroy Israel.

It also pledges to “respect” previous Palestinian agreements with Israel and authorizes Mr. Abbas to conduct future peace talks. Any future deal would be submitted to a national referendum, apparently taking away veto power from Hamas.

Almost as soon as the government was sworn in, however, divisions began to emerge in the Palestinian coalition. The Hamas movement issued a statement Sunday distancing itself from the government: “We call on the national unity government to support the choice of resistance against the occupation.”

During Saturday's swearing-in ceremony, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said the Palestinians maintained the right to resist occupation but would also seek to widen a truce with Israel. Mr. Abbas has said the deal is the best he can get from Hamas.

In Washington, White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said Mr. Haniyeh's comments were “a little troubling” and said the United States would watch the new government's deeds closely. He called on the Palestinians to free an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas-allied militants last June and to halt rocket attacks out of the Gaza Strip.

Arab leaders, meanwhile, pledged support for the unity government. The Jordanian and Saudi kings expressed hope it would lead to Palestinian independence, and the Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa called for an end to international sanctions.

The creation of the new Palestinian coalition came ahead of a March 28 Arab summit, where Mideast leaders are hoping to build momentum for a resumption of peacemaking.

In addition to its struggle for international legitimacy, the Palestinian coalition also faces the challenge of keeping itself from unravelling over ideological differences and lingering enmity between Fatah and Hamas.

Late Sunday, Hamas issued a statement protesting the appointment of Fatah's Gaza strongman, Mohammed Dahlan, to oversee Palestinian security affairs. As Gaza security chief in the 1990s, Mr. Dahlan led a crackdown on Hamas militants, and bad blood persists between the two sides.