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Israel: U.S. Pledged to Support Israeli Position on Talks with Palestinian Unity Government
(New York Times) Isabel Kershner and Jodi Rudoren - Israel has said it will not resume negotiations with any Palestinian government that is supported by Hamas, even if that government is made up of political independents and apolitical technocratic figures who meet international conditions for acceptance. An Israeli official said on Monday that Israel had in the past received "a specific commitment from the American administration" backing that position. The Israeli official said the commitment had been given to Israel during President Obama's first term and had been restated since his re-election. He insisted that the Obama administration had backed Israel's position against negotiating or dealing with such a government unless Hamas accepted the principles laid down by world powers in 2006: to recognize Israel's right to exist, to renounce all violence, and to accept all previous signed agreements. Hamas continues to refuse those conditions. "We are not overwhelmed by a group of gentlemen wearing suits while in the back room the real control is with Fatah and Hamas," Dore Gold, a senior adviser to Mr. Netanyahu and a former Israeli ambassador to the UN, said in an interview. "The technocrats will be under the clear direction of the two movements."