OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli officials Thursday slammed a Palestinian unity deal, warning they would not talk with a Hamas government and that Israel could take an array of measures against the Palestinian Authority. Hawkish Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that the Jewish state would never accept a Hamas government, while a centrist politician said Israel should quickly offer a peace plan before the international community decided to recognize Hamas. “With this accord, a red line has been crossed,” Lieberman told Israel's military radio a day after Hamas and Fatah representatives meeting in Cairo announced the reconciliation deal. “We have at our disposal a vast arsenal of measures including the lifting of VIP status for Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad, which will not allow them to move freely,” he said referring to President Mahmoud Abbas and his prime minister. “We could also freeze the transfer of taxes collected by Israel for the Palestinian Authority,” added Lieberman, who leads the Israel Beitenu party in the coalition of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The surprise deal was announced Wednesday after months of failed rounds of talks provides for the formation of an interim government with a view to holding presidential and legislative elections within a year. The deal could end the devastating political divide that has seen the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority govern the West Bank while the Hamas movement controls the Gaza Strip. Shortly after the deal was announced, Netanyahu warned Abbas that he must “choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas,” a sentiment echoed by many in Israeli politics. Lieberman said the reconciliation deal would mean hundreds of Hamas fighters are freed and that elections would see Hamas “take control of Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank).” He said the international community should insist that any unity government comply with conditions announced by the Middle East peacemaking Quartet. “We hope that the whole international community will maintain the conditions imposed by the Quartet on the Palestinians, which means an end to violence, recognition of Israel and past agreements, and Hamas does not accept any of these conditions.” Barak said the deal showed “the necessity of relying only on ourselves.” “The army and the security services will use an iron fist to deal with any threat and challenge,” he warned. “We will never negotiate with Hamas.” Haim Ramon, a leader from the centrist opposition Kadima party, warned that the “status quo is a disaster for us from the policy and security point of view.” “If Israel does not launch a political initiative, the Quartet will end up recognizing Hamas,” he told Israeli public radio. “Israel must announce that it will leave the Palestinian territories, but retain settlement blocs in a land swap. Presenting an initiative will lift the threat of international isolation,” he added.
