Europe To Talk With Hamas

Jerusalem – Within the space of a few hours, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and the British House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee called for a change in the international community’s policy of boycotting Hamas.

Prodi, who is considered to be a friend of Israel, said that “we need to recognize that Hamas exists. It’s a complex structure that we should help to evolve. One must push for dialogue so that it happens and not shut anyone out of dialogue.”

Prodi also intends to establish political relations with Hamas leadership, in opposition to the position maintained by the European Union, to which Italy belongs.

Israel officials were surprised by Prodi’s statements, who recently visited Israel and presented a firm position against dialogue with Hamas. Senior foreign ministry officials are afraid that more countries will follow suit before the international conference is held this November.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday responded to the European statements: “Hamas represents an ideology that does not serve the national Palestinian interest and undermines the chances for reaching a solution of two nation states.”

Meanwhile, Livni spoke with Qatar Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani about regional developments in general and the Palestinian issue in particular. Livni underscored that Israel would insist that Hamas not be permitted to take part in the political process unless it adopted the three threshold conditions that were set by the Quartet. Officials in Livni’s circle said that Al-Thani did not dispute Livni’s position. They deduced that there might be Arab states that support Israel’s position.

U.S. Congressional Visit To The PA

Eighteen Democratic congressmen visited with the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership in Ramallah yesterday morning and returned to their hotel in Jerusalem to hold a conference on their glowing impressions of their meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salman Fayyad. “There is reason for hope,” said the delegation leader, Rep. Steny Hoyer, who went on to say that “the PA leadership is opposed to terrorism and will vigorously act against it.”

The Bulletin asked about verifying the PA commitment to peace and reconciliation, considering that the PA armed forces continue their warlike activities against Israel and that the new Palestinian Authority textbooks read like war-training manuals.

Hoyer, in response, said that he was indeed concerned about the communications that the PA issues to its people and the need for tolerance.

Hoyer was also asked for his reaction to Rep. Eric Cantor, who led a Republican delegation to the Middle East last week and issued a scathing statement after it had been discovered that Fayyad, who is also the treasurer of the PA, has paid salaries of Hamas officials from funds that the PA had received from the U.S. and Israel. Hoyer said that he had received assurances from Israeli and American officials that “this was only a bureaucratic mistake.” There were chuckles in the Israeli press in response to this explanation.

Hoyer repeated that the U.S. Congress would have to determine whether the PA had upheld its commitments to stop its involvement in terror and to cease incitement on the official airwaves of the PA media.

In terms of incitement, only a few hours after Hoyer’s press conference, Abbas denounced Israeli military action in Gaza against Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists as a “well-planned vicious Israeli massacre.”

Indeed, following seven Palestinian rockets attacks from Gaza over the past three days, Israeli army ground forces, backed up by helicopters, intensified land operations in southern Gaza against Hamas and Islamic Jihad command posts.

Ten Palestinians were killed and 14 wounded yesterday as Israeli soldiers came under fire in the Arab village of Khan Yunis. Islamic Jihad said six of its members were killed in the latest Israel Air Force strike in the town. The IDF confirmed it carried out the air strike, saying that it targeted Palestinian terrorists in the area.

During the activity, Israeli forces discovered various weapons, including a suicide explosive belt and an explosive device. Approximately 100 suspected Palestinians were questioned by security forces, some of whom taken to Israel for questioning.

David Bedein can be reached at Media@actcom.co.il. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

©The Bulletin 2007