The issue of aid to a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority is to be debated at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, with France said to be leading a diplomatic push to unblock more than $40 million in EU funding for the Palestinians, with no precondition that Hamas recognize Israel or renounce violence.
The meeting comes as a public disagreement has arisen among Kadima's leaders regarding how to deal with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Israel Radio on Sunday that Abbas was ‘irrelevant.’ But Shimon Peres, who is number two on the party's Knesset slate, said Sunday at a function in Miami that ‘Israel must continue to talk with Abu Mazen [Abbas], since he is responsible for contacts with Israel and for the Palestinians' foreign policy.’
The British Telegraph newspaper reported Monday that France is spearheading the diplomatic move to unblock the funds. The move is also said to be backed by the European commission.
The paper quoted unnamed French officials as saying that the French government wanted ‘the money freed immediately, and handed over in one block, as part of a strategy of reaching out to Hamas.’
French officials have expressed hopes that Hamas' victory in the January elections for the Palestinian parliament will have a moderating influence on the organization, which had taken a leading role over the past decade in terror attacks on Israel.
The EU blocked the funds, which make up half of the EC's 2005 allocation to the Palestinians, over widespread corruption and mismanagement by the Fatah-run PA.
Olmert, Mofaz side with Livni on Abbas
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz are thus far siding with Livni in the dispute over how to treat Abbas, telling American envoy David Welch on Sunday that Jerusalem refuses to see Abbas as the ‘good guy’ and Hamas as the ‘bad guys.’
All three ministers told Welch that the PA is a single entity, and that Abbas is not an independent actor at a time when Hamas has a parliamentary majority, will be forming the government and is the party of Abbas's deputy.
Olmert told Welch that Israel cannot conduct a dual policy - one toward Abbas and one toward the rest of the PA.
Livni told the American envoy that ‘Abu Mazen cannot be a fig leaf for a terrorist entity. When the PA is headed by a terror organization, it becomes a terrorist entity. No distinction can be made between the PA and Abu Mazen, on one hand, and Hamas on the other.’ Livni added that the international community must deliver a strong message to Hamas.
Mofaz warned of the danger of Hamas cozying up to Iran and Hezbollah, ‘which would help bring the axis of evil here.’
‘We are focusing our efforts on isolating Hamas for as long as it refuses to accept the conditions set by Israel and the international community: to reject terror, recognize Israel, honor all agreements and abrogate its convention [calling for Israel's destruction],’ Mofaz continued, adding that the Palestinian government will ‘pay the price’ if terror against Israel continues after the new government is formed.
Welch responded that the U.S. will not give money to an entity headed by a terror organization, but also said that the Palestinian population should not be made to suffer. He said that money for humanitarian purposes would continue to be channeled to the Palestinian people.
In response to reports of a disagreement between Welch and Israeli officials, the American Embassy in Tel Aviv released a statement saying that Welch had a ‘productive visit’ during which he had ‘excellent exchanges of ideas’ with the Israelis, and that the two governments agree on the way forward.