Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today that both the U.S. and Israel agree that there would be no recognition of a Palestinian Authority government that would not abide by the Quartet's conditions. Olmert said he had talked with U.S. President George Bush over the weekend, and that both agreed to this ultimatum.
The Quartet - the U.S., Russia, European Union and United Nations - has long stated that it would not grant recognition or funding to a PA government that would not renounce terrorism, recognize Israel and abide by past Israeli-PA agreements.
The Fatah terror organization publicly accepted the above conditions, while Hamas did not - and failure of the two to agree led to civil-war violence and killings, mainly in Gaza, over the past several months. An agreement on a Fatah-Hamas unity government reached in Mecca earlier this month raised hopes that the conditions would be met - but in vain.
Razi Hamad, spokesman for the current, outgoing PA government, said today that the new government is not required to recognize Israel or to abide by agreements made with Israel. Speaking on BBC's Arabic broadcasts, Hamas said that if the US Administration refuses to recognize the unity government, "it is as if it it is standing up against the entire Palestinian nation [sic]."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who arrived in the Middle East over the weekend, also reiterated the Quartet's demands. “It is reasonable to obligate [the PA] to renounce violence, to recognize [Israel's] right to exist and honor international agreements,” Rice told reporters.
The White House spokesman took a slightly less aggressive approach, saying that final decisions would not be made until the unity government is actually formed.
Rice, Olmert and Fatah PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are to meet tomorrow (Monday) for a three-way summit. She and Abbas were to hold a joint press conference this afternoon, but it was abruptly canceled yesterday for unspecified reasons.
The cancellation may be linked, however, to the apparent refusal of Hamas to adhere to the required conditions. Abbas warned U.S. Middle East envoy David Welch in preparatory talks on Saturday that there would be no major policy changes in the new PA unity government. “This agreement was the best we could get. We cannot change it. You either take it or leave it," a PA official quoted Abbas as telling Welch.