Israel, en acuerdo con Estados Unidos, exige el reconocimiento de su país para negociar con los palestinos, asegura Haaretz

18 Febrero 2007

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni shaking hands before their meeting in Jerusalem on Saturday. (AP)
 
 
PM: Israel, U.S. in accord on demands for PA gov't
 
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies
 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the cabinet Sunday that the U.S. and Israel are in total accord on shunning any Palestinian government that doesn't meet international demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing peace accords.

Olmert said at the start of the weekly meeting that he and U.S. President George W. Bush had spoken by phone Friday about the Palestinian power-sharing accord whose platform falls short of meeting those demands, posed by the Quartet of Mideast negotiators - the U.S., European Union, United Nations and Russia.

The ruling Hamas movement and its rival Fatah agreed earlier this month at a summit in Mecca on the formation of a new unity government, aimed at stemming months of factional violence and lifting a year-long international aid embargo.

"A Palestinian government that won't accept the Quartet conditions won't receive recognition and cooperation," Olmert told ministers. "The American and Israeli positions are totally identical on this issue."

The decision on a unified Israel-American stance comes ahead of Monday's trilateral summit in Jerusalem between Olmert, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

The summit will begin Monday morning at the David's Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, where Rice and her entourage are staying, and last a few hours. No joint press conference is planned for afterward, in order to avoid a public comment on the anticipated differences of opinion.

Rice arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday, where she met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The two had also spoken several times by telephone before Rice's arrival.

On Sunday, Rice was to meet separately with Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah and with Olmert in Jerusalem, in order to advance preparations for the summit.

Abbas' office said Sunday that Rice and Abbas had canceled a press conference that had been scheduled to follow
their face-to-face meeting.

During their phone conversation, Olmert and Bush discussed the ramifications of the Mecca Agreement, as well as the Iranian nuclear issue.

A source in Jerusalem said that Bush and Olmert "see eye to eye on the need for any future Palestinian government to meet the Quartet's demands."

Bush also spoke with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, under whose auspices the Mecca Agreement was drafted.

Olmert plans to tell Rice on Sunday that the Mecca Agreement and its implications should be the main topic of discussion at Monday's summit.

According to the government source, Israel will insist that any diplomatic progress be conditioned on the Palestinian unity government not only accepting the Quartet's conditions, but also acting on them. Olmert and Rice will discuss two scenarios - if the PA does accept the Quartet's demands and if it does not.

"We have to think about how to behave if Salam Fayyad, a moderate and acceptable figure, becomes finance minister in a Hamas-led government," the source said. "Israel will not be willing to recognize such a government, even if it includes some moderates."

Another Israeli source added, "In the worst-case scenario, we will boycott the Palestinian unity government, just as we boycotted the Hamas government until now." 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
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