World

Hamas Says It Won't Recognize Israel

November 14, 2006 / 9:46 AM EST / AP

Hamas said Tuesday it would not recognize Israel even after a new national unity government takes power, but suggested that the emerging coalition would be free to stake out a more moderate position.

Hamas apparently hopes this ambiguity will allow it to preserve its anti-Israel ideology but open the door to an easing of crippling international sanctions, imposed to pressure the current, Hamas-led government to moderate. Despite the sanctions, Hamas has repeatedly rejected international demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence and respect past peace accords.

Seeking a way out of the deadlock, Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement have been in talks to form a coalition government comprised of politically independent experts appointed by the two rival parties, officials said.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, a top official in Hamas' exiled leadership in Syria, called the international demands to recognize Israel "illegal and illegitimate." But he suggested Hamas would not set the tone for the next government's policies on Israel.

"It's not Hamas that will pronounce on this subject," he said in a telephone interview from Syria.

Under the emerging coalition agreement, foreign policy would be handled by Abbas, who, as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people.

It was unclear whether this division of labor would satisfy Western demands. Officials from the "Quartet" of Mideast mediators — the U.S., European Union, Russia and the United Nations — are scheduled to meet Wednesday in Egypt.

The Palestinian coalition talks took a significant step forward Monday when Hamas and Fatah agreed on a candidate for prime minister.

Both sides hope Mohammed Shabir, a 60-year-old university professor with a doctorate in microbiology, will help to lift the sanctions and bridge differences between Hamas and Fatah, which periodically have erupted into violence. Shabir is known to sympathize with Hamas, but enjoys close relations with Fatah leaders as well.