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Acting PM Ehud Olmert (AP)
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners April 10, 2006 |
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Israel moved to reinforce its measures against the new Hamas-led Palestinian government, declaring it a "hostile entity" and ruling out contacts, including peace talks with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Sunday declaration by the Israeli Security Cabinet rejected the idea of using Abbas to bypass the new government and boosted acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to impose a border in Judea and Samaria by 2010.
The recommendation came amid increasing Israeli military pressure on Hamas in response to Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel.
Israeli forces pounded suspected launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip with artillery fire on Sunday, killing a Palestinian police officer and wounding 16 other people. The Palestinian government called an emergency meeting to discuss the growing tensions.
Israel has refused to deal with Hamas, demanding that it halt violence, recognize Israel and accept previous interim peace agreements. Israel also has suspended the transfer of $55 million in tax revenues it collects for the Palestinians, dealing a tough blow to the cash-strapped Palestinian government.
Hamas has rejected the ultimatum, despite intense international pressure and a growing financial crisis, though some leaders have hinted at a readiness to moderate.
In a statement, Israel's Security Cabinet, made up of senior ministers, said there will be "no personal boycott" of Abbas, but rejected any substantive negotiations with the Palestinian leader.
Government spokesman Asaf Shariv said relations with Abbas would be limited, and peace talks were out of the question. The recommendations were to be approved by the full Cabinet next Sunday, he said.
"The Palestinian Authority is one unit and does not have two heads," the statement said, adding that Israel will work to undermine the Palestinian government. It also said Israel will boycott diplomats who have contact with Hamas.
Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for the Palestinian president, said Israel should negotiate with Abbas, who is the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, because Israel signed its agreements with the PLO. Abu Rdeneh said Israel should not "look for any pretext for escaping from the negotiating table."
The policy could give more momentum to Olmert, who plans to draw a border in Judea and Samaria unilaterally by 2010 if he believes a peace accord is impossible.
Under Olmert's plan, Israel would withdraw from large parts of Judea and Samaria, but retain and strengthen major settlement blocs. The plan would fall far short of Palestinian claims to all of the area.
Olmert's Kadima Party won Israeli elections last month, and he is expected to complete formation of a new government supporting his plan in the coming weeks. Formal coalition negotiations began Sunday.
Speaking to Kadima activists Sunday evening, Olmert said, "We want this government to be able to fulfill within the coming four years the obligations it took on itself in the political and security areas ... to bring Israel to a safe refuge of peace and final borders."
Israel's tough stance against Hamas has received widespread international backing. The U.S. and European Union, which consider Hamas a terrorist group, last week cut off tens of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority. On Monday, EU officials are to review humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
Israel's Cabinet on Sunday decided to pay Israeli suppliers of fuel and services from tax money Israel collects but is refusing to transfer. The decision came as an Israeli fuel company threatened to cut off supplies.
The cutoff in aid has compounded an already dire financial situation for the Palestinian government.
In interviews published Sunday, Palestinian Finance Minister Omar Abdel Razek said the crisis was worse than he thought, and he did not know when he would be able to pay salaries to the government's 140,000 workers.
Abdel Razek said last week that he expected to pay the salaries by mid-April. But at the time, "I did not have a full picture of the magnitude of the problem," he was quoted as saying.
The Palestinian Authority is the biggest employer in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. A collapse in the government would worsen conditions in an area where more than 40 percent of the population live in poverty.
AP contributed to this report.
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