Friday, April 29, 2011

IOA says no negotiation with PA unity government

[ 29/04/2011 - 11:03 AM ]

NAZARETH, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation government has decided Thursday not to negotiate with any Palestinian unity government after Hamas and Fatah Movements inked the Palestinian reconciliation paper in Cairo a couple of days ago.

According to the Hebrew Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, the mini ministerial council chaired by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Thursday and took that decision but refrained from taking any additional decisions in this regard.

The IOA also decided to closely monitor developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, and to abort any attempt to revive negotiations with the PA leadership in Ramallah, the paper added.

Netanyahu had earlier asked PA leader Mahmoud Abbas to choose between making peace with "Israel" or reconcile with Hamas after both Palestinian Movements decided to restore Palestinian unity.

For his part, rightist Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman warned Abbas that Israel possesses "big arsenal" of measures that could be taken by the Zionist entity to punish the Palestinian Authority for reconciling with Hamas.

"The PA has crossed the redline, and we have big arsenal of measures to punish them like denying them the VIP cards that would restrict their movement in the West Bank, and we could freeze the money of taxes due to them among other measures," Lieberman said in an interview with the Israeli army radio.

Moreover, the extremist minister opined that holding an election in the Palestinian territories next year would pave the way for Hamas to control the West Bank.

However, Haim Ramon, one of Kadima party leaders, suggested that the Israeli occupation government should present a peace plan to present it to the world, saying that remaining indifferent would bring political and security catastrophe to "Israel".

He also warned that Israel's reluctance to initiate a political initiative would force the Quartet committee to recognize and negotiate with Hamas.

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