Source: Compiled by Moqawama.org, 23-9-2006
GAZA CITY - The next Palestinian government will not recognise "Israel" but is instead prepared to back a 10-year truce with the Zionist state, an adviser to the Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya said.
The suggestion was rejected immediately by "Israel" which insisted that any Palestinian government recognise "Israel", renounce violence and abide by past agreements signed by the Palestinian Authority.
"The national unity government does not recognise "Israel" in its political programme. The government and the Hamas movement will be against recognising "Israel"," Ahmed Yussef, Haniya`s political adviser, told AFP.
"Our position to solve the crisis is a 10-year truce which will be good for stability and prosperity," he added, calling on the "Israelis" to withdraw from Palestinian territory occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.
Yussef said a "third party" should be responsible for mediating the truce without specifying who he thought should be involved in possible negotiations.
PM Ismail Haniyya said he would not head any unity government that recognized "Israel", rebuffing President Mahmoud Abbas, who told 192-nation General Assembly in New York on Thursday that any future coalition would do so and would also renounce violence. Amid the apparent rift, the Saudi foreign minister on Friday urged Palestinian leaders to find a united stance toward "Israel" and clarify whether they accept the Arab peace initiative of 2002, which recognizes the Jewish state.
Abbas said "any future Palestinian government" would honor all previous interim peace accords with "Israel".
"I personally will not head any government that recognizes "Israel",`` Haniyya told worshippers at Friday prayers.
Haniyya reiterated that Hamas is ready to establish a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem (al-Quds), and to honor a long-term truce with "Israel".
"We support establishing a Palestinian state in the land of 1967 at this stage, but in return for a cease-fire, not recognition,`` Haniyya said.
Hamas officials left open the possibility of more negotiations, saying they want to hear from Abbas once he returns to the region. "When Abu Mazen [Abbas] comes back, we will listen to him and evaluate," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
In an interview published in the Yediot Ahronot daily on Friday, "Israeli" Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he could meet Abbas. He gave no date for the meeting which the international community hopes could help revive peace talks.