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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discusses U. S. foreign policy priorities before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill Wednesday. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners February 16, 2006 |
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The House of Representatives passed a symbolic resolution Wednesday expressing support for the shutting down of aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas continues to advocate the destruction of Israel.
Hamas, which is included in the U.S. State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations, won recent elections in the Palestinian-controlled territories but has yet to form a government. The Bush administration has made amending the Hamas charter to remove the anti-Israel language a condition of continued U.S. aid.
The Senate has already approved the nonbinding resolution that passed the House on Wednesday, 418-1.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the Bush administration would not turn its back on such humanitarian programs as immunizing children against disease.
"But no money will go to that government," Rice said under questioning by Sen. George Allen.
"I don't want a penny of taxpayer money going to Hamas," Allen told Rice.
"Neither do I," she replied.
The administration is in the midst of reviewing U.S. aid to the Palestinians.
Israeli and U.S. officials have denied any plot to topple the Hamas-led government that will be formed soon, but any decision to shelve all or most U.S. aid could undercut Hamas' standing with the Palestinians.
Israel is likely to cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority after the new Hamas-controlled parliament takes office over the weekend, officials said after a high-level meeting to discuss policy.
Acting Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni convened the discussion late Wednesday, following a statement from Hamas that it plans to set up its new Cabinet at the beginning of March after sweeping Palestinian parliamentary elections last month. The new Hamas-dominated parliament is to convene Saturday.
That would put Hamas in control of the Palestinian Authority just weeks before Israelis go to the polls to pick a new parliament. In the past, actions by Palestinian militants before elections have bolstered support for Israeli hard-liners.
Hoping to capitalize on that, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu adopted the slogan "Tough Against Hamas" and is emphasizing the dangers of the violent Islamic group that rejects Israel's existence and has sent dozens of suicide bombers into Israel.
However, polls since the Palestinian election, where Hamas trounced the traditional rulers from Fatah, have so far not followed the old pattern, and Likud continues to flounder, trailing Kadima, founded by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in November after he quit Likud. Sharon was felled by a stroke Jan. 4 and is still in a coma,
A poll for Channel 10 TV and the Haaretz daily showed Kadima, headed now by the acting premier, Ehud Olmert, winning 40 seats of the 120 in the parliament. Likud had only 13 seats and the moderate Labor would win 19.
The survey was conducted by the Dialogue polling agency. The poll surveyed 615 prospective voters and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
No decisions were made at the high-level meeting Livni chaired, because only the Cabinet can set policy. However, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the trend is to stop monthly transfers of tax money to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas takes over, but funds could still go to humanitarian projects.
Israel transfers about $50 million a month in taxes and customs it collects for the Palestinian government. Israel briefly held up the February payment, causing a brief crisis in the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority. It appears likely that Israel will stop the transfers altogether after Hamas assumes office.
"I don't expect Israel to be transferring funds to the budget of the Palestinian Authority," Regev said, but "that doesn't mean that projects that are not connected to the Palestinian Authority can't continue."
National security council head Giora Eiland warned it would be difficult to differentiate among them, Israel Radio reported.
On Wednesday, Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas candidate for prime minister, said a Cabinet would be in place around early March.
"We will be ready in two weeks" from Saturday, he told The Associated Press. Ignoring American and Israeli threats, Hamas officials said the government, including prime minister, would be stacked with its members.
Moving in that direction, Hamas picked members to three senior parliamentary posts, including the sensitive position of parliament speaker. In addition to his legislative powers, the speaker steps in as caretaker president if the elected head of the Palestinian Authority dies.
Wednesday's appointments included Abdel Aziz Duaik, a geography professor from the West Bank, as speaker; Ahmed Bahar, a mosque preacher and operator of a social-welfare charity in Gaza, as his deputy; and Mahmoud Zahar, a hard-line Hamas leader from Gaza, parliamentary faction leader.
Zahar had been considered a contender for the prime minister's job, and Wednesday's appointment meant he was no longer in the running.
Since Hamas controls 72 of 132 parliamentary seats, the appointments are expected to pass easily.
Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said Tuesday in Sudan that the Palestinian group had no plans to recognize Israel, one of three conditions set by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations for dealing with a Hamas-led government.
The two others are an end to attacks on Israel and acceptance of past Palestinian-Israeli agreements.
"There will be no recognition of Israel, and there will be no security for the occupation and colonization forces," Mashaal told a rally in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. "Resistance will remain our strategic option."
AP contributed to this report.
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