US and Israel agree to shun new Palestinian coalition

Israel and the US have agreed to refuse recognition to a new Palestinian coalition government ahead of talks in Jerusalem on Feb. 19, the Israeli prime minister said, reducing the already slim prospects of progress in the peace process. Ehud Olmert said that he and the US had agreed to shun the new Palestinian unity government. Olmert, who spoke by phone to President Bush on Feb. 16, said that the US and Israel had agreed that the new Palestinian government, to be formed following a rare agreement between rival factions earlier this month, would not be recognized because it still failed to meet the Quartet's conditions: that it recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace agreements. "A Palestinian government that won't accept the Quartet conditions won't receive recognition and cooperation," Olmert said. "The American and Israeli positions are totally identical on this issue." Washington had said it would wait to decide on the new government until after it had been formed, which could take another five weeks, and until its program had become clear. Although the agreement for a new coalition Palestinian government does not meet the Quartet's conditions, it has brought a halt to the factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah that had claimed more than 100 lives and threatened a slide into civil war. The Palestinians argue that President Mahmoud Abbas would risk restarting the violence if he pulled out of the agreement now and note that he heads the Palestine Liberation Organization, which has already recognized Israel. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas accused the US and Israel of trying to sabotage the unity deal, which has helped halt months of deadly fighting. "The American and Israeli interference today aim to destroy the basic principles and the basis of the Palestinian cause... and to divert our cause," he said.