[Jerusalem Post] Haviv Rettig Gur - If the international community engaged and legitimized Hamas, "this would ruin Israel's ability to conduct wide-ranging, comprehensive negotiations with the Palestinian Authority" and Mahmoud Abbas, Israel Foreign Ministry Dir.-Gen. Aharon Abramovich said Monday at the Herzliya Conference. "It is in Israel's interest to renew negotiations with the PA," and not with Hamas, he said. In recent years, the Quartet of the EU, UN, Russia and the U.S. have demanded as a precondition for speaking to Hamas that it forswear violence, accept previous agreements between Israel and the PA, and recognize Israel. According to Dr. Oded Eran, director of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, "If the international community drops the Quartet preconditions so it can talk with Hamas, it will very quickly discover that it doesn't have a whole lot to talk about." "The Arab peace initiative itself doesn't meet the minimal demands of Hamas, so where can these talks possibly go?"
2009-02-03 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive