BY TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOST—
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday urged the European Union to be cautious and measured in its approach to the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.
“Europe must demand that Hamas comply with the Quartet conditions, which it helped formulate: Recognition of Israel and the cancellation of the section in the Hamas charter which calls for its destruction, cessation of terror, and compliance with past agreements signed between Israel and Hamas.”
He made the statement in a telephone conversation with the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton.
Europe should also demand that Hamas allow the Red Cross to visit captive soldier Gilad Schalit who has been held in Gaza for close to five years, the foreign minister stated.
Since Schalit was kidnapped on June 26, 2006, Hamas has not allowed anyone to visit him.
Support for the agreement before Hamas has fulfilled these conditions sends a message to the Palestinians that “terror pays” and it reduces the chances of reaching a political settlement, Lieberman said.
The agreement raises serious concerns Hamas would take over any territory transferred by Israel to the Palestinian Authority, in the same way that it took control of Gaza, he added.
Earlier on Friday, as he met with Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias, Lieberman said that the Palestinian Authority’s partnership with Hamas means that the PA has partnered with terrorists.
“Abu Mazen and the PA must understand that it is not possible to be a partner with terrorists without being a partner to terror,” Lieberman said.
“The international community must not legitimize the government whose face is the face of Abu Mazen, and whose arms are the arms of Hamas, who launches missiles at citizens and stains innocents with blood,” Lieberman told Christofias.
Lieberman said that “the inability of the international community to make even a declarative decision at the Security Council condemning Syria for the violence and murder of innocent citizens by the Assad regime, raises the question in Israel of: If and how much the international community can be relied upon for its balanced and honest considerations in regards to the situation between Israel and the Palestinians.”
“This feeling is currently being strengthened by the conciliatory approach, in opposition to the Quartet’s decision, taken by some countries towards Hamas – a terror organization whose declared, primary aim is the destruction of Israel,” Lieberman added.
Lieberman traveled to Cyprus to discuss bilateral relations, events in the Middle East and the Hamas-Fatah unity agreement and its effect on Israeli-Palestinian relations.
Also on Friday, President Shimon Peres said that the Hamas-Fatah unity deal states that the PA will control the West Bank and Hamas will control the Gaza Strip, in contradiction to earlier comments by Abbas that the Palestinians will be ruled by one body.
Peres said that if, in preparation for PA elections, political platforms will include the destruction of Israel and continued subordination to Iran, it is irrelevant what the results for next year’s elections will be.