2 Palestinian Leaders Meet to Pave Way for a New Cabinet
GAZA, Feb. 15 — After months of difficult negotiations and bloody Palestinian street fighting, the Hamasled Palestinian government resigned Thursday to pave the way for a unity government that will include Hamas and the rival Fatah movement.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas submitted his cabinet’s resignation on Thursday evening at a meeting with the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, at Mr. Abbas’s seaside compound in Gaza City. The agreement is intended to help prevent a resurgence of the internal Palestinian battles that have claimed nearly 100 lives in the Gaza Strip since December.
There was no immediate sign that a new Palestinian government would win a restoration of direct financial assistance that Israel and Western countries cut when Hamas came to power a year ago.
American diplomats told Mr. Abbas, who is from Fatah, that Washington would shun the new government as long as it did not meet several conditions, according to one of Mr. Abbas’s top aides, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
Israel, the United States and the European Union have demanded that the Palestinian government recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous agreements. But with Mr. Haniya set to retain his post in the new government, which will again include many prominent Hamas figures, it appears highly unlikely that the new cabinet will explicitly meet the conditions.
“I am not certain that the full scope of this agreement is clear to anyone,” Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who was in Turkey on Thursday, said on Turkish television. “The initial signs are not very encouraging.”
The Bush administration, like the Israeli government, has contacts with Mr. Abbas. But Israel and the United States refuse to deal with Hamas, which they classify as a terrorist organization.
Washington’s stance toward a new Palestinian government may be clarified when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives for a meeting with Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas, set for Monday in Jerusalem.
Mr. Abbas seeks a resumption of negotiations with Israel, which collapsed six years ago, several months after the Palestinians began an uprising in September 2000.
“The unity government must be given a chance,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Mr. Abbas. “After the formation of the unity government there shouldn’t be any excuse for not holding negotiations.”
Mr. Haniya’s resignation was mostly a formality, as Mr. Abbas immediately asked him to form the new government, which is to be presented to the Palestinian parliament for approval within five weeks.
Hamas will continue to hold the largest number of cabinet posts. Fatah, which refused to take part in the previous government after losing elections to Hamas last year, will have at least a half dozen ministerial portfolios, and other factions and independents will also have posts.
“Brother Ismail Haniya presented me with his government’s resignation, and I charged him with forming his new cabinet,” Mr. Abbas said Thursday after their meeting. “We call on you to be committed to the high interests of the Palestinian people,” he said to Mr. Haniya.
There was no word on who would hold the key post of interior minister, overseeing several branches of the security forces, including the police. Mr. Abbas is responsible for all other security agencies.
Under a preliminary agreement reached last week in Saudi Arabia, Hamas is to nominate an independent figure to lead the Interior Ministry, and Mr. Abbas can accept or reject the choice. Security force members, some loyal to Fatah, others to Hamas, were deeply involved in the recent Palestinian infighting in Gaza.
Palestinians celebrated in the streets when Hamas and Fatah announced their agreement last week. But on Thursday many expressed doubts about whether a unity government would survive.
Rawya Shawa, an opposition member of the Palestinian parliament, said she would vote to support a unity government, but without much enthusiasm. “In principle I support power-sharing,” she said, “but it won’t be easy for Hamas and Fatah to get along together, and I’m not sure a unity government will last long.”
2 Palestinian Leaders Meet to Pave Way for a New Cabinet - New York Times
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