Israel urges world to reject Hamas
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-13 09:48

Israel's foreign minister on Sunday criticized Russia's invitation for Hamas leaders to visit Moscow for talks, urging the international community to stand firm in rejecting the militant group despite its victory in Palestinian elections.

But Israeli officials said they did not plan a harsh response to the invitation, preferring instead to work to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to maintain international pressure on Hamas.

The invitation last week was Russia's latest effort to assert itself in Mideast peacemaking. It runs counter to the stand recently taken by the so-called Quartet of Mideast peace negotiators, comprising Russia, the U.S., the European Union and the U.N. The Quartet, which backs the "road map" peace plan, insisted it would not deal with a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, and threatened to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in desperately needed aid to the cash-strapped government unless the group recognized Israel and renounced violence.

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal speaks to the reporters on his arrival in Khartoum, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006.[AP]

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to make it clear that Hamas must stop terror attacks. But France said it hoped Russia could help lead Hamas to accept a two-state solution.

Hamas has carried out scores of deadly attacks against Israelis in recent years, calling for the destruction of the Jewish state and its replacement with an Islamic nation. It is listed as a terror organization by the European Union and the United States.

Hamas leaders said they plan to travel to Moscow later this month.

"We are going to present our positions ... about the political developments and issues related to the rights of our people," Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said on Saturday.

Israel's acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said Israel would not deal with the incoming Palestinian government, even if Hamas stacks it with professionals with no connection to the group.

"The moment the Palestinian parliament is sworn in, the Palestinian Authority becomes a Hamas Authority," Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday, according to a participant in the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it.

The parliament is to be sworn in Thursday, and Hamas expects to form a new Cabinet in coming weeks.

Russia's envoy to the Palestinians, Alexey Pogodin, met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday and told reporters that Moscow would urge Hamas to moderate its stance.

The invitation has infuriated Israelis.

"The Russian position is currently not accepted in the international community," Acting Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Israel Radio on Sunday. "Part of the danger is going down the slippery slope of first talking, then starting to understand why, then supporting with money, then granting legitimacy."

Hamas, while adhering to its violent ideology, has voiced willingness to agree to a long-term truce if Israel reciprocates. Hamas has largely honored a year-old cease-fire.

Livni cautioned against reading too much into the group's promises.

"There is no negotiation here with Hamas about what it will and will not agree to," she said.

Cabinet Minister Tzahi Hanegbi said Israel would try to persuade Putin that breaking with the major Western nations on Hamas "will diminish the efforts to make sure that Palestinians will not adopt the values and behavior of a terrorist organization."

But Russia's invitation would not cause a diplomatic breach with Israel, he said.

"We believe in dialogue, we believe in trying to convince, and we are not going to take any harsh measures," he said.

In the northern West Bank village of Nebe Elias, Hebrew graffiti scrawled on a mosque that equated the Prophet Muhammad with a pig led to a protest and clashes with Israeli troops that left three Palestinians and an Israeli woman injured.

Also Sunday, Israel reopened the vital Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel, the military said. The crossing, used by Palestinian workers to reach jobs in Israel, was closed after armed Palestinians attacked it on Thursday.