Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom (Likud) expressed dissatisfaction Friday at a Palestinian unity government shared with Hamas.
Speaking to Army Radio, Likud MK Silvan Shalom said that despite
Israeli efforts to jump-start the diplomatic process with the
Palestinian Authority, the diplomatic reconciliation between the historically rivaling Palestinian factions shows their disinterest in reconnecting with Jerusalem.
RELATED:
PM: We can't rush diplomacy amid Mideast upheavals
Opinion: Palestinian reconciliation ‘next to impossible’
"We
are at a critical point today," Shalom told Army Radio. "Israel is
trying to renew the peace process, but the Palestinians refuse any
direct contact with us."
Shalom said he would request from the international community to isolate a Palestinian government where Hamas shares the reins.
"I am going to petition the international community not to speak with a [unity] government that includes Hamas," Shalom said.
The Likud MK's comments echoed those made by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev on Thursday, who said that “the closer Abbas gets to Hamas, the further away he gets from
peace.”
Still, diplomatic officials in Jerusalem, especially those within Netanyahu's political camp, said they believed that any progress in the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas is more show than reality, according to Army Radio Friday.
On Thursday Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal
announced that they had agreed to work as “partners,” but failed to
reach agreement over the formation of a Palestinian unity
government.
They did agree, however, to hold presidential and
parliamentary elections in May and to release each other’s detainees from their
prisons.
The two men are to meet again on December 22.
Khaled Abu Toameh and Herb Keinon contributed to this report.
