Abbas: Unity govt to reject violence

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday the new unity government he is set to head with the backing of Hamas would reject violence and recognize Israel and existing agreements.
Abbas was speaking the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Council, which had convened to chart a course of action after Israel suspended US-brokered peace talks in response to the deal with Hamas.
“The upcoming government will obey my policy,” Abbas told members of his PLO on Saturday. “I recognize Israel and reject violence and terrorism, and recognize international commitments.”
And Abbas stressed that the new government would not be charged with negotiations, but the PLO, which “represents the entire Palestinian people.”
The PLO is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinians and their interlocutor in peace talks.
Under the Wednesday PLO-Hamas agreement, Abbas would head an “independent government” of technocrats, to be formed within five weeks.
That new interim administration would be charged with holding parliamentary and presidential elections within six months of taking office.
Abbas also reiterated that the Palestinians would never recognize Israel as the “Jewish state,” saying they recognized it as a state in 1993 and should not have to accept its religious identity, which has been a central demand of Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, Hamas welcomed Abbas’ speech. “The speech had mostly positive points, and we cannot but support it on topics such as Jerusalem, reconciliation and not recognizing (Israel as) the Jewish state, in addition to the failure of (peace) negotiations,” Bassem Naim, an adviser to Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said.
Naim said “it is not the government’s mission to take care of political issues. “It has only three main missions: unifying the Palestinian organizations, preparing for elections and reconstructing Gaza.”
Despite being invited, Hamas delegates did not participate in the Saturday meeting.
Aziz Dweik, the Hamas speaker of the Palestinian Parliament, said the group had stayed away because “we need a central council that is effective, not merely window dressing.”