Israel wants international boycott of new Palestinian government

[Purveyor]

Palestinians have finalized an agreement on a national unity government, in which the ruling Islamic militant group Hamas agreed to share power with the rival and more moderate Fatah faction.

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The agreement caps months of grueling negotiations between Hamas and Fatah, and both sides hope it will end factional fighting that has raised fears of civil war.

They also hope it will end international sanctions that have crippled the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

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Therefore, Israel says the new government is a major "step backward" and harms the prospects for peace. Israel sees Mr. Abbas as a moderate and a peace partner, but spokesman Mark Regev says his alliance with Hamas is a setback.

---end of excerpt---

http://www.israelnews.net/story/234575

[Ken Burch]

1. Hamas controls the legislature. Abbas has no choice but to work with them.

It's not like he has the option of ignoring them and imposing a settlement against Hamas' will.

Once more, proof that Olmert and his rivals to the right NEVER WANTED PEACE.

Peace would destroy both Kadima AND Likud.

[Poll_Blind]

2. I wouldn't be shouting "boycott" too loudly if I were Israel, currently. n/t

PB

[Scurrilous]

3. Norway recognizes PA unity gov't, to restore economic ties

<snip>

"Norway will re-establish political and economic relations with the new Palestinian government, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said Saturday."

<snip>

"The Norwegian foreign minister said the Hamas-Fatah coalition was taking steps toward complying with international demands.

"Norway will thus on this basis re-establish political and economic relations with the Palestinian government," he said.

Norway is not a member of the European Union, but has been a key player in Middle East peacemaking and one of the most steadfast contributors to the Palestinian Authority."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/838690.html

[Scurrilous]

10. Palestinians come in from cold of Western boycott

<snip>

"The Palestinians began to come in from the cold of a yearlong Western boycott Monday as a senior Norwegian official met ministers of the newly formed national unity government in Gaza.

Deputy foreign minister Raymond Johansen of Norway - the first European country to normalize relations with the Palestinians following the inauguration of the unity cabinet - met with Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and foreign minister Ziad Abu Amr in Gaza City.

Johansen was then to travel to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank for talks with President Mahmoud Abbas.

His visit comes as the Quartet of major players in the peace process - the European Union, Russia, the United Nations, and the United States - appears to be softening its stance toward the new cabinet after a yearlong boycott of its Islamist-dominated predecessor.

"The walls of isolation and the aid embargo are cracking," Abu Amr told an Israeli news Web site Sunday, after France invited the US-educated diplomat, an independent, for talks in Paris."

http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070319-055404-7573r

[kaal]

4. boycott boycott....

Sounds like the calls to boycott Israeli products....

I'd like to hear more positive steps to move forward toward peace.

A unity Government sounds positive, but I thought the negative issue was the Hamas refusal to recognize Israel.

I can't see why the "right to resist" is an issue. It is after all a right under the Geneva Convention and UN charter for an occupied people.


Maybe the rest of the Arab world to recognise Israel now and allow the Palestinians to wait until a final settlement and peace agreement is signed.

[eagler]

5. Until Israel is acknowledged as a sovereign nation by Hamas

Israel should not recognize Hamas as a legitimate government.

[TheBaldyMan]

7. well that should get everyone around the negotiation table.

at no point did the Israeli government give Hamas a chance to recognise Israel. They could have used the diplomatic pressure that would have been applied from other countries to persuade Hamas to negotiate. It would have taken some time but it would have worked.

Instead they used all influence to effect an economic blockade of the PA, a shameful state of affairs. The EU shot themselves in the foot.

To be blunt, if the current Israeli government were responsible for negotiations in NI there would still be civil war raging.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. This is almost funny.

"They could have used the diplomatic pressure that would have been applied from other countries to persuade Hamas to negotiate."

Hamas didn't even respond to economic pressure, yet, you think "diplomatic" pressure, given time, would do the trick?

As for your hyperbole, that is also just as laughable.

[TheBaldyMan]

9. the economic pressure was applied within a week of them winning the election

you may not like the fact but they did win it by a landslide. Israeli diplomatic efforts went into over-drive then. Shame that they can't show the same energy and enthusiasm for working towards a peaceful outcome.

Instead all efforts were made to isolate and undermine a democratically elected government. All this was done in plain view. It was counter-productive and confirmed the worst prejudices of the arab & muslim world.

In answer to your question about diplomatic pressure, yes it would have. That's why Israel was so quick to move to scupper any possible diplomatic initiative.

I have a question for you, how would you have dealt with the situation if you had been in Olmert's shoes?

[Englander]

14. ~~

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

11. What are the borders of this sovereign nation?

I don't see why the notion that recognition comes at the end of the process is unthinkable.

[eagler]

13. If it doesn't even exist it doesn't matter

[Scurrilous]

6. Foreign Ministry moves to prevent collapse of PA boycott

<snip>

"The Foreign Ministry began a diplomatic offensive over the weekend to avert the collapse of the international community's boycott of the Palestinian Authority government.

Israeli officials reiterated Friday that there would be no Israeli contact with the new cabinet or any of its ministers and that Israel hoped the international community would maintain its own principles in this matter.

However, the sources conceded Israel would have difficulty persuading even the U.S. to boycott Fatah ministers, some of whom are considered American and European proteges.

On Friday, the European Union welcomed the establishment of the PA unity government, but has not recognized it. The EU said it would closely scrutinize the new government's platform and actions.

The Foreign Ministry has identified two main trends in the EU stand. Ireland and Spain have called for an unconditional normalization of relations, while the British are promoting a proposal to maintain contact with Fatah ministers only."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/838747.html

[Violet_Crumble]

12. Many Israelis 'welcome' Palestinian ties

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

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.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Many-Israelis-welcome-Palestinian-ties/2007/03/19/1174152965446.html

[kaal]

16. Israel must at least negotiate with Palestinians..

How least to you reach a peaceful settlement?


The fact that the new Government has been elected by the Palestinian people is enough reason to hold talks. Holding talks with only Fatah members will not work.... It's probably an attempt by Israel to create disunity with the new Government.


Having Hamas in the Government is actually a golden opportunity for Israel to truly reach a lasting peace... Because it will be a peace accepted to both the main parties. Recognition will come without a doubt, but to force an occupied people to recognize the legitimacy of a Nation considered an oppressor, doesn't make sense!

Seem like a deliberate tactic to avoid negotiations toward peace and stall any talks! (I just do not understand the reasoning behind a decision not to have any discussion what so ever)

A shame..... It's time Labour came to power.