Israel continues to coordinate security issues with the Palestinian Authority, as Israel Defense Forces officers and their counterparts in the Palestinian security services are maintaining ties as per usual, Haaretz has learned. This policy will remain in effect for the time being, but will come under review if and when Hamas takes control of the PA’s security forces.
Meanwhile, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that the Fatah movement might join the new Palestinian Authority government under certain conditions. „Fatah has still not decided to remain outside the government and the Fatah bloc in parliament will engage with whoever is tasked with forming the government in a dialogue that will include all of the topics on the agenda, and if there is a shared basis, Fatah must participate in the government for the sake of the Palestinian interest,” Abbas said. Security coordination between Israel and the PA is continuing despite statements made at Sunday’s cabinet meeting by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who said that the PA had ” become, for all intents and purposes, a terrorist authority.” Olmert’s statements followed the swearing-in ceremony in Ramallah for the new Palestinian parliament, in which Hamas has a majority. „Israel will not maintain contacts with a regime of which Hamas is a part – a small, big or decisive one,” Olmert said. The cabinet decided on Sunday to halt the transfer of tax money to the PA, and also to prevent the upgrading of the capabilities of the PA’s security mechanisms by denying entry to military equipment – jeeps, command cars, radios and armored cars – that various countries wish to donate to the PA. For now, however, there will be no change in the routine work with the Palestinian security mechanisms. „The dilemma exists all the time, but life on the field level must go on,” a security source said. „While the GOC of the Central Command may not be meeting with his counterpart, if an IDF force goes into Nablus, he will inform his counterparts so as to prevent a situation in which fire is directed at armed Palestinian policemen. If an explosives-laden tunnel is discovered at the Karni crossing, there will be coordination to expose it and facilitate the operation of the crossing.” Political sources in Jerusalem say that the cabinet decision speaks of a „gradual reduction” in contacts with the PA. According to one source, „This is a gradual process of escalation which began with small steps, and they will intensify in keeping with developments.” The source explained that Olmert decided to bring forward the freezing of the funds, prior to the establishment of a Hamas-led government, as a signal to the international community. The Quartet’s position – that the freezing of ties and financing will come only with the swearing-in of the new government – is an opening for postponements and delays, the source said, adding: „When the government is established, they will ask to wait until the ministers have moved into their offices and have made operational decisions. Clearly, a line had to be drawn.” Abbas’ comments were made before a meeting Monday night with Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, including the designated prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, and the head of Hamas’ parliamentary faction, Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar. Monday’s meeting took place amid heavy pressure on Hamas from the Egyptians to get senior Fatah representatives into the government and to moderate its basic principles. Abbas’ comment Monday was the first time since the election that he indicated that Fatah might join the new government. The Hamas officials met with Abbas at the presidential compound in Gaza to inform him of Hamas’ decision to give Haniyeh the task of forming the new government. Haniyeh said after the meeting that Hamas is striving for a national unity government. According to Palestinian sources, the delay is not merely a technical matter, and that Hamas leaders had asked Abbas for an extension to hold internal consultations, after which they will announce whether they intend to form the new government and what its basic principles would be. Abbas also refrained Monday making a final announcement that Haniyeh will head the government. Abbas said that if Hamas forms the new government, it would have to change its positions. „There are many commitments the Authority cannot back away from, and if it does so, it will forfeit international legitimacy,” he said. „The brothers in Hamas know this. We cannot be a state and say that we are not committed to the international principles. The world will be against us. There is no avoiding the Hamas voicing its views to the world and likewise hearing the world’s positions.” Fatah has so far not announced its intention to join the government, and there are serious differences of opinion on this matter within the organization. Some are opposed to joining the government, while others are in favor of joining under certain conditions. Before Monday’s meeting, Hamas announced the start of talks with the various factions in parliament about forming the government. The popular and democratic fronts announced their willingness Monday to join a Hamas-led government, and Islamic Jihad issued a statement rejected such a possibility. Meanwhile, UN envoy to the Middle East Alvaro de Soto criticized Israel’s decision to freeze the funds. According to De Soto, the money belongs to the Palestinians and should not be held back for any reason. Israel should have waited for the establishment of the new government and its platform – particularly on the backdrop of the PA’s dire financial problems. Hamas looking for coalition partners Earlier, Hamas held talks with militant factions, one of which, Islamic Jihad, declined to join up. In a speech to the new parliament on Saturday, Abbas appealed to a future Hamas government to recognise past peace deals with Israel and commit itself to pursuing statehood through talks but stopped short of setting conditions for forming a cabinet. Hamas swiftly rejected Abbas’s call, but neither the group nor the president appeared ready for an immediate showdown. Hamas opened formal talks in Gaza on Monday with other militant factions in a bid to form a new Palestinian government by early next month. Hamas said its goal was to establish as broad a coalition as possible as it faced a cut off in vital tax funds from Israel and a threatened boycott by major powers if it refused to renounce violence and recognize Israel. The radical Islamic Jihad movement, responsible for dozens of suicide bombings in Israel, turned down the invitation. „We will not participate in the government but we will stand beside Hamas in the project of resistance to protect the interests of our people,” Islamic Jihad leader Nafez Azzam told reporters after talks with Hamas officials. A Hamas delegation also met with leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a left-wing radical group. Talks were also scheduled with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the group was trying to form „the largest national coalition possible” by early next month. Salah al-Bardaweel, spokesman for Hamas’s parliamentary bloc, said Hamas would officially present Abbas with its choice for prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh. It was unclear whether Hamas would succeed in bringing all of the other militant groups into the coalition. Senior PFLP leader Jamil al-Majdalawi was also noncommittal as he entered the talks with the head of Hamas’s parliamentary bloc, Mahmoud al-Zahar. „We are not talking about conditions. We are going to talk to Hamas about finding common ground for a program to form a national coalition government,” he said.
BPI-info
BPI-info
