By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
US Consul-General Jacob Walles on Tuesday met with Palestinian Finance Minister Salaam Fayad, the first American contact with members of the new Palestinian government, Palestinian officials said.
The meeting signaled a break in policy between Israel and the US, its closest ally. Israel has said it won't have contact with any member of the new Hamas-Fatah coalition, including moderates like Fayyad, because of the coalition's failure to renounce violence and explicitly recognize the Jewish state's right to exist.