France says backs Russia invitation of Hamas
By Shmuel Rosner, Shlomo Shamir and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Dealing a new blow to Israel's effort to internationally isolate Hamas, France expressed support Friday for a Russian effort to reach out to the radical Islamic movement, but reiterated that the it must renounce violence and recognize Israel.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau said Russia did not consult its international partners about its initiative. But "we believe that it is an initiative that can contribute to advancing our positions," he added.
"We share with Russia the goal of leading Hamas toward positions that would allow for the goal of two states living in peace and security to be reached," he said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday invited leaders of Hamas, the militant group responsible for dozens of suicide bombings in Israel, to visit Moscow. A Hamas leader quickly accepted the invitation.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who was attending a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Sicily on Friday, said that while Moscow is critical of Hamas' ideology just as other nations, it considers it practical to maintain contacts with the group.
"Hamas is in power, this is a fact," Ivanov said. "Sometime in the future, many leading states will start maintaining some contacts with Hamas."
To read an analysis of Putin's statements on Hamas, click here.
Ivanov was expected to meet with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on the sidelines of the NATO meeting.
Minister Meir Sheetrit on Friday accused Putin of "stabbing Israel in the back" for saying he planned to invite Hamas leaders to visit, and said Moscow should not play any role in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Russia "cannot fill any position regarding negotiations with the Palestinians" unless it changes its position on Hamas, Sheetrit told Israel Radio.
Putin's announcement contradicts a statement issued two weeks ago by the Mideast Quartet, to which Russia belongs, which said a two-state solution requires all participants in the democratic process "to renounce violence and terror, accept Israel's right to exist, and disarm." The other Quartet members are the United States, United Nations and European Union.
Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh said Hamas leaders would visit Russia if they receive an official invitation.
But Sheetrit, a Kadima member, said no such invitation should be forthcoming until Hamas renounces its charter, which calls for Israel's destruction. Sheetrit also recalled Russia's support of the Arab bloc during the Cold War, saying Putin's comments show that "Russia is returning to the mistakes of the past."
But NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Friday told Haaretz that the organization will not hold talks with Hamas.
Scheffer, currently in Sicily for a meeting of NATO's defense ministers, said that there will be no contact with Hamas even if Hamas leads the Palestinian Authority government, which NATO opened contacts with last year.
"It's an absolute impossibility to have any kind of dealing with Hamas by NATO," de Hoop Scheffer said. "Contact with Hamas is out of the question."
Avigdor Lieberman, of the far-right National Union party, warned Friday that Russia could be opening the door to further legitimization of Hamas.
"Legitimization from one of the important players in the Quartet will pave the way for others, for those who don't exactly love us, to cooperate closely with Hamas," said Lieberman.
Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin said Israel should not negotiate with Hamas unless it recognizes Israel and refrains from terror, but suggested that Israel focus on deciding its own policy rather than "chasing after" other countries and monitoring their relations with Hamas.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, meanwhile, is slated to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt on Tuesday to discuss the outcome of Hamas' victory in last month's Palestinian parliamentary elections.
Putin expressed his intention to host Hamas leaders at a press conference in Madrid on Thursday.
"Having maintained our contacts with the organization Hamas, we intend to invite their leaders to Moscow in the near future to search for solutions," Putin said.
"We have never considered Hamas a terrorist organization," said the Russian leader. "Hamas came to power ... as a result of democratic, legitimate elections, and we must respect the choice of the Palestinian people."
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who met in New York on Thursday with the UN ambassadors of the five permanent Security Council members, urged them to stand fast on the four conditions that the council - again including Russia - had previously set for recognition of Hamas: recognition of Israel, disarmament, abandoning terror and accepting the road map peace plan.
"Every sign of weakness and of recognition will be interpreted by Hamas as legitimizing terror," she said. "It's important that the international community insist on the fulfillment of these conditions."
U.S. steers clear of direct criticism
The United States on Thursday reminded Russia that it is on the record condemning the violent tenets of Hamas, but steered clear of criticizing Putin.
The Quartet statement that Russia signed also hinges at least some future international aid to the Palestinians on changes in Hamas' behavior.
"As a member of the Quartet, we would certainly expect that Russia would
deliver that same message," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "They did so as a member of the Quartet in public to Hamas, and if there are any future meetings between Russian officials and Hamas officials, we would expect that they would deliver that same clear, strong message."
The U.S. ambassador in Russia, William J. Burns, has requested clarification of the message Putin intends to give to the Hamas officials, McCormack said.
"Certainly, we are not going to have any contact with a terrorist
organization. But as for each state, they are going to have to make that
sovereign decision," McCormack said in Washington.
He rejected the notion that Putin's remarks undermine the unity or power of the Quartet.
Also Thursday, a top State Department official said a Hamas suspension of
attacks on Israel will not be enough. The group already is observing a
cease-fire.
"It doesn't seem to me you can push the pause button on terror," David Welch, the assistant secretary of state for the Near East, said at a news conference.
If Hamas should accept Israel's right to exist, "perhaps there will be a
different situation," Welch said.
Welch said the Quartet's statement leaves no wiggle room short of a complete renunciation of terror, such as a Hamas offer of a truce to Israel.
"The burden here is on Hamas to take a decision," Welch said. "It is not on the United States, it is not on the Europeans, it is not on Israel."
Welch also said that the U.S. would continue its dialogue with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. |
